Nothing To Fear
by TheVictorian95
Summary: How hard could it be for one demigod girl to protect her younger, demigod half-brother? And who's this handsome son of Hades that decides to walk into her life? Read and Find out. & Please review! Not a sequel of DOTW. NicoxOC. After TLO. No TLH or SON.
1. Time For A Change

***THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL TO "THE DAUGHTER OF THE WIND", IT'S A WHOLE NEW STORY!***

**Anyway, I hope you guys like this new story, I'm writing. All the free time I have now is going into this story! (Which isn't that much.)**

**But, without further to do. I give you the first chapter of Nothing To Fear.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO, but I do own all the book Rick Riordan's ever wrote!**

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Nothing To Fear

Chapter 1- Sent Off

A seven-year old boy looked up at his big sister with curious green eyes. She was sitting in the seat next to him, drawing across her leather-bound notebook, and running her pencil in various directions.

"Olivia?" the boy asked.

The girl continued scribbling, as if she was in a trance.

"Oli?" he tried again, raising his voice a little higher.

Her pencil strokes only stopped for a second before continuing. "What is it, Zach?"

"What are you drawing?" he asked as he tilted his head up in hopes to catch a glimpse of his sister's artwork.

"Mom." Olivia answered matter-of-factly.

Zach's green eyes got wider with interest.

"Happy Mommy or Sad Mommy?" he asked as he reached up to his tip toes to see.

He lifted his head over his sister's arm and caught a glimpse of the image. There was a petite woman with a huge, round belly. Her dark hair curled down her back and down the sides of her face as the woman looked down at her stomach with a warm gaze. Her arms gently wrapped around the enlarged part of her and the woman appeared as if she had a motherly glow, even through pencil strokes.

Zach smiled the same way the woman in the picture did. "Happy Mommy."

"Yup," Olivia agreed as she raised her hand and ran it through his shaggy brown hair. "You were what made her so happy."

"Then… why is she so sad now?" He asked as he looked back up at his big sister. Olivia just stared somberly at her younger sibling before removing her hand from his brown locks.

"That's… really hard to explain." Olivia stated as she reluctantly looked back down at the picture.

"Is it because of Dad?" he asked. His eyes never left her face.

"It's because of both our Dads," She replied as she glanced down at him.

Olivia then stood up from her chair and kneeled down to the height of her little brother. She gently wrapped her hands around his small ones and made sure his green eyes were staring directly into her blue ones.

"But don't be sad about it, okay?" She cooed before pressing her forehead against her little brother's. "Smile, Zachy."

Zach smile brightly as he stared into her eyes.

Suddenly, a loud knocking nearly broke down their apartment door. Olivia visibly tensed at the sound of the banging. Her hands clenched down on her brother's.

"Zach, go to your room." Olivia commanded before letting go of him and heading for the front door.

Zach was already in a room at the back of the apartment when Olivia opened the door. Standing in the entrance was a policeman and a man wearing a black suit. Olivia's eyes narrowed.

"Olivia Seaton? I'm Mr. Gordon from Child Services and this is Deputy Harrison." The man in the suit explained as he gestured to the policemen. Olivia's gaze switched between the two.

The Deputy was the next to speak up. "We're here because we'd like to check up on your mother-"

"She's fine." Olivia interrupted.

"I'd rather you let us check for ourselves." Mr. Gordon reputed. Olivia glared him down.

The man wearing a suit looked down on Olivia with adamant eyes. And if there was anything she hated in her enemies, it was persistence.

Olivia was about to repeat her earlier statement, but out the corner of her blue eyes, she noticed Deputy Harrison flex his muscles threateningly. And she knew, the two would move her by force if need be.

They'd left her with no choice.

Olivia threw all of her energy into her voice. Her legs and arms twitched, feckless from the loss of vitality, but it was a small price to pay for her next action.

Using all the power she'd channeled into her vocal cords, Olivia spoke.

"Get Out!"

And those words struck down in the hearts of her visitors as they fearfully fell back on their butts. For the briefest moment, Olivia watched the determination and resolve in their eyes change to fear and desperation. Afterwards, they didn't take long to rise up to their feet and run down the hallway like their lives depended on it.

As soon as Olivia shut the door, her strength returned to its normal flow.

Zach ran over to her from around the corner. "Oli, was it the man in the suit again?"

"Yeah," Olivia replied as she walked past him.

"Did you scare them like last time?" the boy asked as she continued down the hall.

"Had to." Olivia replied before walking into the room closest to the one bathroom of their apartment.

The room was littered with beer bottles, cigarette butts and broken shards of glass, still sharp from when the mirror that was broken months ago. Though the whole place reeked of rancid alcohol and smoke, Olivia stood straight in the door frame. In the center of the mess was a twin sized bed with a large lump hidden underneath its covers.

"Mom," Olivia acknowledged.

The lump shifted slightly.

"Child services dropped by again."

The lump stilled for a moment before it began removing the blankets covering it over. Olivia stood in the door frame, waiting for her mother to uncover herself.

Once the woman was visible, Olivia inwardly cringed. The woman she saw was as pale as a piece of paper, looked as thin as a skeleton, and had glazed over green eyes, most likely from an alcohol buzz. Mentally comparing the woman to the picture Olivia had drawn; comparing her to the mom she once had eight years ago, just made the girl sick to her stomach.

"Olivia…" the woman breathed as she stared at her daughter.

"Mom," Olivia greeted back, arms crossed in front of her.

"I'm sorry, you have to keep using your powers to scare those men away." She slurred as she sat up in her bed.

Olivia was taken aback with the response.

"What?" she asked without thinking. Immediately, she tried to regain her composure. "I mean, it's okay."

Her mother smiled at her daughter's attempt to act composed. Olivia hadn't seen that smile for a long time. But as soon as it appeared, it vanished.

"Olivia…" her mother began again. "Do you remember what I told you the day Zachary had his first temper tantrum?"

"It's not a day I like to remember, but yes." Olivia answered as chills went down her spine from the memory.

"Do you remember where I told you to go if any trouble were ever to arise, whether human or monster?" Olivia racked her brain for the recollection.

"Some kind of camp I think." She replied.

"Camp Half-Blood." Her mother reminded with a cracking voice.

"Right, but mom, nothing here is that bad-"

"Open your eyes, Olivia. You know better than to be that naïve." The woman stated as she rose to her feet, careful to avoid broken glass shards.

"It's going to get better," Olivia preached.

"No, it's not." Her mother decided as she walked over to her eldest child. "Olivia, do you know what tomorrow is?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at the woman.

"Of course, it's Zach's 8th birthday." Olivia answered. Her mother nodded.

"The day Zachary was born; _He _told me that his son would be able to harness his power by the age of 8. Four years earlier than you did. And even at the age of twelve you left several victims." Her mother went on.

Olivia guiltily looked at the beer bottles littering the floor beneath her feet.

"My dearest daughter, the only safe place for you and your brother to learn to control yourselves is Camp Half Blood."

Olivia's gaze shot right back at her mother. "But mom-"

"I'll be fine." The woman promised.

"But… will we?" she asked as she looked around the littered apartment floor.

Suddenly, Olivia found herself being wrapped up in the arms of her mother. The first hug she'd had in eight years.

"Olivia, you are a true daughter of Deimos, and your brother, a son of Phobos. I know you'll both be fine because you were both meant for better things than this." The mother whispered into her ear.

Even though Olivia could smell the alcohol on her mother's breath as well as the reminder that she hadn't taken a shower in a while, the girl still hugged her mother back, for even she didn't know if she'd have another chance.

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**Well, that was the first chapter of Nothing to Fear! I hope you guys really liked it! Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	2. Fearless, But Alert

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! They really made me smile! :D**

**And because of them, I'm giving you the second chapter of Nothing To Fear. I hope you all like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

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Nothing To Fear

Chapter 2- Fearless, But Alert

"Come on, Zachy," Olivia called as she held his hand and guided him out of the JFK airport.

The child's eyes were blood shot from the tears he'd cried when Olivia had told him that he had to say goodbye to Mommy on his birthday and that he wouldn't be seeing her again for a while. Afterwards, she had to keep him from having tantrums through the entire flight. Last thing they needed was for him to accidently scare the living daylights out of someone because he was upset.

"Oli," his voice cracked as they walked towards the sidewalk, somberly carrying his backpack. "Where are we going?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Olivia replied. She silently remembered the conversation she'd had with her mother that morning.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Just make sure you're brother gets something to eat on the plane." Her mother told her as she placed a little over 200 dollars into her daughter's hands. _

_Olivia looked to the bare wall of her mother's room that held Zach's room on the other side. He was probably still sound asleep. The girl looked back to her mother. _

_For once, the woman looked presentable. Her once ratty hair was brushed and put up, her face was washed, and her clothes were fresh from the launder mat. It was obvious to Olivia that her mother was only trying to make their last memory of her last in light of a good image. _

"_Right," Olivia replied as she stuffed the money into her wallet which she proceeded to put back into her pocket. "But what about when we get off the plane? I don't know where this "Camp Half Blood" is." _

_Her mother gave a grim smile. "Don't worry, dear. They'll find you."_

_FLASHBACK END_

Olivia looked over the area surrounding the airport. Where were the two supposed to go? And who was this '_They'_ that was supposed to find them?

Regardless, she held tighter onto her brother's hand and looked down at him. "Hey, Zach, you hungry?"

The new 8-year-old nodded before He allowed himself to be pulled into a cab.

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Minutes later, they were sitting is a fast food joint, nibbling of some French fries. Zach was staring down at his lap, he wasn't as sad anymore but he really didn't like being in new places.

"Why did we have to leave Mommy?" he asked.

Olivia sighed at her sibling. "Mommy said this place would be better for us. We'll be safe here."

_I hope. _Olivia added in her mind.

"Well, this place is weird, I don't like it." He proclaimed. Olivia cracked a smile.

"That's what you said about strawberries. Now, they're your favorite fruit." She reminded.

Zach pouted at her reply and stuffed a handful of French fries into his mouth, trying to play off her comment. Olivia was about to complain about how he'd taken her fries instead of the ones she'd bought for him until she saw the strangest thing in the window.

It was an odd, but huge creature with one eye, holding the chain of a two headed dog. And this dog was ridiculously ugly and ridiculously big, like nearly bigger than the creature holding its leash. Olivia's jaw dropped open when she saw them and she immediately looked around the restaurant to see if anyone else was seeing what she was seeing. No one else seemed to be alarmed at the sight. Except Zach.

"Big Dog." He commented as he stared.

Suddenly, the dog stopped yanking its master forward and it turned to look through the restaurant window. Straight at Olivia and Zach. Olivia got a bad feeling about that glare it was giving them.

"Zach, come with me." Olivia ordered, but she didn't give him much of a choice and she grabbed him and hastily dragged him out of the restaurant.

Olivia dragged him to the back of the fast food joint, her long brown hair whipping behind her as she and her brother ducked behind a dumpster. She tried to silently catch her breath before she heard several footsteps coming her way. Olivia peeked around the corner of the dumpster to see the double-headed hound and its one-eyed owner.

She took a deep breath before quickly shrugging off her backpack and pulling out something she'd never thought she'd have to use. She unsheathed the gift given to her so many years ago. A bronze dagger. Olivia gripped its hilt and held it upright.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Zach curiously as he stared at the deadly object in his sister's hands.

"Stay here." Olivia commanded before flying out from behind the dumpster facing the odd creatures.

"What do you want?" Olivia fearlessly yelled at the dog owner.

The burly monster just pointed a stubby finger at her. "Dinner."

"I'd like to see you try." She challenged as she clutched the knife it her hand tighter.

The owner only smirked with crooked teeth and released his chained up mutt. The two-headed beast charged at Olivia full force, but Olivia stood her ground and waited for it to come closer. When it was within a few feet of her, she grabbed the chained collar it had around its neck and used her legs as a spring to throw herself onto the back of the ferocious dog.

At first it was like riding a horse bareback, then the beast noticed its prey was on top of him and started thrashing about like a crazed bull. Olivia reversed the hold of her knife and stabbed one of the hound-heads right in its eye. The dog wailed loudly and ran forward towards the back of the building they were behind.

Olivia quickly jumped off and rolled across the asphalt as the mutt hit the wall and stopped moving altogether. The girl quickly rose back up to her feet, brushing herself off before looking over at the one-eyed monster staring at her in anger.

"You blind my dog!" He yelled.

"Your turn." Olivia replied as she once again reserved the hold of her dagger.

The giant muscled figure ran at her and this time Olivia decided to meet him halfway. When she was in close enough, she slid underneath him and sliced at his right leg. Golden blood splashed out when she slid behind him.

"Ah!" The monster howled in pain as he kneeled down on his right knee.

Olivia took this chance to pounce back to her feet and run up the monster's back. She was up to his shoulders before she proceeded to drop down his backside, her knife scrapping through the beasts flesh all the way down, leaving quite a long scar.

As her feet reached the black asphalt yet again, she turned to look over her shoulder at the oversized Cyclops turning into dust which was then was blown into the wind.

_Well, never seen that happen before. _She thought to herself as she walked towards where the creature once stood, but suddenly she saw the demon dog she'd earlier blinded walking around.

It was sniffing over towards the dumpster that Zach was hiding behind. Olivia's eyes widened in fear.

She abruptly threw the knife at the hound from 15 feet away, but the knife only struck the wall when she missed the dog by a hair. Olivia's blue eyes got even wider.

She was about to yell for Zach to run, but suddenly a black blade flew from out of the woods behind the restaurant and pierced the dog right in its stomach, nailing it to the dumpster's wall. Olivia's jaw dropped for the second time that day as she watched the two-headed monster turn to dust.

It only stayed open for a second as she immediately started searching for the sword owner, readying herself for another battle.

When she heard the rustling of bushes, she turned to see a boy about her age with dark silky hair and skin looked pretty tanned for a New Yorker. His eyes were dark as midnight, and seemed just as cold when he looked at where the beast once was. And those eyes really didn't seem to match his jeans and bright orange shirt. He walked further out of the woods and snatched his sword from the dumpster wall.

Zach's head peeked out from behind the garbage. "Cool sword."

The boy gave a proud smirk. "Thanks,"

"Zach, get over here." Olivia demanded.

The eight-year-old quickly rose to his feet and ran over to his sister. Olivia kneeled down to his height and ran a hand through his soft brown hair.

"Are you okay?" She whispered to him. The boy nodded. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she looked up at the boy walking towards her. Olivia took a defensive stance in front of her little brother. She thought he was about to attack before he out-stretched his hand containing her dagger.

"Oh…" Olivia muttered when she realized that he was only giving her the dagger back.

She walked over to her backpack to sheath the dagger before putting it back inside the pouch.

"You two are both demigods, right?" The boy asked from behind her, Zachary standing next to him.

Olivia pulled her backpack back onto her shoulders and faced the boy. "Yup, and I'm guessing you are too."

The boy's mouth twitched into a smirk once again. "Yeah. Name's Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades."

"Son of death. Nice." Olivia responded before taking her brother's hand. "So I suppose you're taking us to Camp Half-Blood considering that's what it says on your shirt."

For a moment, his eyebrow twitched in confusion. "Didn't plan on it, but sure, I was heading there anyway."

The boy, Nico, then stood on the side of the street and let out the loudest ear piercing whistle Olivia had ever heard. Multiple cabs halted.

He looked back to her. "You got any money?" He asked.

Olivia just rolled her eyes and threw her brother, as well as herself, into the nearest cab. Nico followed after before giving the cab driver a specific address. Soon they were driving off.

Because Zach had wanted a window seat, Olivia was forced to sit uncomfortably close to the boy who smelled suspiciously like a graveyard.

"You know, you were pretty impressive back there." He complimented as they sat scrunched together in the back seat.

"It was just instincts, I guess." Olivia replied as she looked straight ahead.

"Well, yeah, kids like us have built in reflexes from our ADHD, but still… was that your first battle?" Nico questioned.

"Yeah," Olivia stated emotionlessly, still suspicious of the guy next to her.

"Wow…" The boy acknowledged. "That's pretty surprising… I mean, you seemed… fearless. Like you handle those kinds of things every day."

Nico watched Olivia give the front shield a bitter smile.

"When you're the daughter of terror itself with a little brother who's the son of pure fear, you tend not to get scared so easily."

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**Enter Nico! Lol**

**I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. The next one will probably be up next Saturday because this week is 'FINAL EXAM' week. :) Wish me luck!**

**And please Review!**

**Yours Truly,**

**The Victorian**


	3. First Impressions

**Thanks for the reviews again, guys! Hoping for more! :D**

**And because of them, I'm giving you the third chapter of Nothing To Fear. I hope you all like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

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Nothing To Fear

Chapter 3- First Impressions

Olivia closed the cab door behind her as she walked back over to Nico and Zach. As the cab drove away, Nico silently led them to the main gate of Camp Half-Blood.

He'd been on edge ever since she told him about being the daughter of Deimos, god of terror, with a little brother who's the son of Phobos, god of fear. Of course, Olivia knew the discovery would cause a little cautiousness, but Nico himself said he was the son of Hades. Son of Death. Death feared nothing.

Still, she decided not to call him out on it.

"It's huge," Zach breathed as he looked up at the gate.

Olivia followed her brother and looked up at the two huge white columns. They proudly held up a white column sign with words engraved into it saying "CAMP HALF BLOOD" and then Olivia saw the camp behind the sign.

It was filled with kids all wearing orange T-shirts like Nico di Angelo. But even though they were kids, they also looked like warriors. It immediately made her anxious as she saw all the armored kids, who couldn't be a day older than her, holding the swords and arrows in their hands.

"Zach, stay by me, alright?" Olivia ordered as they entered.

"Don't worry," Nico reassured as he looked at her with honest obsidian eyes. "We won't bite. Much."

Olivia looked down, fighting back a smile at his joke.

They walked deeper into the Camp and Nico started giving them the tour.

"Well, those are the strawberry fields and that's the rock climb, I suggest you stay away from it until you're really sure of your skill," Nico said with a serious voice before pointing in another direction. "And then those are the archery stations."

"Oli, Look!" Zach called as he pulled on his sister's black tank top.

Olivia followed the gaze of her younger brother to see a round of demigods notching arrows. With a flick of their wrists, all their arrows struck bulls-eyes.

"Not bad." Olivia replied.

"Apollo's kids." Nico informed. Olivia then nodded in understanding.

When Olivia was younger, the day her mother told her that her father was a Greek god no less, she'd decided to learn all there was to know about Greek mythology since she was now a part of it. She knew all the Gods by heart, their relation to each other… but also the fact that every book always said "myths". She never thought she'd ever see so many living myths in one place.

"Always good to see student wanting to improve when they've already come so far." Said a voice behind them.

The three looked back to see a white stallion with a man as his top half.

Zach jumped around and stumbled only to fall back to the ground underneath him. Olivia was speechless. Nico only gave a welcoming smile.

"You're a centaur," Olivia breathed.

The half-horse man smiled laughingly. "Yes, I believe I am."

"Olivia, Zach, this is Chiron." Nico Introduced.

Zach's eyes got incredibly wide. "You're Chiron? Like from the bedtime stories?"

"Um… excuse me?" Chiron asked, confused.

"He just means the Greek Mythology stories I read to him at night." Olivia answered.

"Ah, a young expert. That's refreshing to see." He stated proudly. Olivia blushed lightly and looked away at the compliment.

"Chiron, this is Olivia Seaton, Daughter of Deimos." Nico introduced as he gestured to her before gesturing to her younger brother. "And this is her little brother, Zach Seaton, Son of Phobos."

"Phobos and Deimos… Hmm…" Chiron muttered to himself.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. We don't even have a cabin for them." Nico acknowledged as he looked at the two.

"Right… Would you excuse us for a minute?" Chiron replied as he put a hand on Nico's shoulder.

"Oh, sure," Olivia obliged as she watched them walk away a few yards.

Then she looked back to see that Zach was still on the ground in shock.

"Come on, Zachy," Olivia said as she picked him up from the dirt.

"Oli… this place is awesome." Zach decided when his feet were firmly planted on the grass.

"Well, it's nicer than the apartment." Olivia agreed.

Olivia looked back at the Nico talking to Chiron. The black sword he kept at his waste seemed glossy against the sunlight. It made her wonder how many times he'd used it. And how many he'd used it on. But when Olivia looked back up to his face, she noticed his dark eyes… didn't seem as cold as before. They seemed warm in fact.

But that didn't mean she was going to let her guard down just because he wasn't as scary as before.

"Oli, I want to go do the archery!" Zach exclaimed.

"I don't know, Zach, looks kind of dangerous." Olivia replied.

"But… but you have a dagger!"

"Yeah, to protect you with."

"And what a fine job you did with it from what I heard." Chiron replied as he and Nico walked back over to the two.

"Oh, thanks." Olivia replied, trying to hide the twinge of pride she felt at the pit of her stomach.

"I'm sorry to say that I can't talk more with both of you, but sadly, I have more things to attend to." Chiron apologized. "Nico is going to show you where you'll be staying though."

"It's fine." Olivia replied as she looked at Nico while grabbing Zach's hand. Nico just gestured for them to follow him as he walked away.

"Bye, Chiron!" Zach yelled as his sister pulled him along.

Kids snickered when they heard Zach say that, but the group decided not to notice as they walked off to an area full of the strangest architecture Olivia had ever seen. There was a house with grass on its roof, then one made out of gold, but they stopped at one with a boar's head above its door. Olivia's face scrunched up at the look of the cabin.

It was red all over and looked like it was painted with someone's knuckles while the roof was covered in barbed wire. From inside the windows, Olivia saw a bunch of punks that she would have avoided if they'd been in her school.

"You can't seriously be telling us we have to live in there." Olivia stated as she looked over to Nico.

"There's no other choice… besides… maybe it'll be fun." Nico replied, though even Zach could see he didn't believe his own words.

The son of Hades walked up to the door and cautiously knocked on its chipping wood.

Seconds later, the door flew open to reveal a big girl with long brown hair and a nasty scowl.

"What do you want, Corpse breath?" She asked hostilely.

"Clarisse… always a pleasure." Nico stated through gritted teeth and a forced smile. "These two are going to be staying in your cabin so I suggest you make some room."

Clarisse snuffed at the two. "Who are they?"

"Guys, this is Clarisse, Daughter of Ares and Head Counselor of the Ares cabin." Nico began. "And Clarisse, this is Olivia, Daughter of Deimos, and Zachary, Son of Phobos."

Clarisse's eyes widened before turning to rage. "Not in this life time."

"Clarisse-"

"No! It's not gonna happen!" She yelled, her anger only building.

"Clarisse, Ares in their grandfather. Living in this cabin is your right, as much as it is theirs." Nico argued.

"Over my dead body." Clarisse decided.

"Really?" Nico began. "Because I could just tell the whole camp why you have a grudge against these two and see if anyone is willing to give these new demigods a place to live."

"You're bluffing," Clarisse called out, but Olivia could hear the anxiety in her voice. "You don't even know what happened."

"Percy told me." Nico stated smugly.

Clarisse looked like she was about to kill the son of death, which even Olivia thought would be incredibly ironic, but she seemed to swallow her anger and stood aside, allowing them to come into the cabin.

"Wow," Olivia said in awe as she looked towards Nico. He just shrugged.

"Get in before I change my mind." Clarisse ordered.

Olivia shot a quick glance of thanks at the boy before rushing Zach and herself into the red painted cabin. As soon as they were inside Clarisse yanked the girl from her younger brother by her arm and pulled her aside.

"Look, Whatever-your-name-is, I'm the boss in here. So if I even hear you breathe loudly, I'll make your life here a living underworld." She threatened.

"Then let me say this." Olivia replied, her voice deadly calm. "I couldn't care less what you do to me. But you touch that kid and I'll make sure your life is a living underworld."

With that, Olivia ripped her arm from the Daughter of Ares's grasp and walked back over to her younger brother.

And as Clarisse stood there, looking at the two children of her greatest enemies, Olivia in particular, she couldn't help but be a little impressed. But it only lasted for a moment.

* * *

**And Enter Clarisse! :D**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next one will probably be up next… Friday, I want to say. But we'll see! Please Review!**

**Yours Truly,**

**The Victorian**


	4. Harmful Interactions

**Well, looks like I got this chapter in on time. But I did have a lot of free time, mostly because…**

**SCHOOL IS OUT! JUNIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL: FINISHED! XD**

**Now, all I have to do is finish this story. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

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Nothing To Fear

Chapter 4- Harmful Interactions

By the time Olivia got everything unpacked, the moon had risen to the center of the sky. She looked around the rest of the cabin, seeing most of her aunts and uncles snoring away and drooling on their pillows.

She thought it best not walk through the front door, so she decided to head out of the window she'd seen in the bathroom, but as she crawled over the sink, she heard a voice from behind her.

"I wouldn't take the risk, newbie." The voice said.

Olivia quickly turned around, drawing her dagger from the sheath on her waist. There, half covered by shadows, was a guy with long blond hair. He looked around the same age as Olivia, but stood at least 4 inches taller with arms the size of tree branches.

"Who're you?" Olivia whispered as she sheathed her dagger.

"Name's Rick. I'm second in command around here." He introduced. "And I really don't suggest you leave out that window."

"Yeah, and what do you know?" asked Olivia as she inched closer to the window pane.

"More than you're willing to believe." Rick replied.

"Probably right," Olivia agreed. "Look, Rick, you're wisdom is well appreciated-"

"As it should be." He interrupted.

"-but I'm just going out for a walk. I'll be back in a little while. No one will even know I'm gone," Olivia finished. "Not like they'd care anyway."

"True." He agreed with an arrogant smirk.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Besides, I do as I please, so best bet even if you'd told me to stay-"

"-you would have left anyway." Rick ended before smirking once again. "Hmm… maybe you're a daughter of Ares after all."

Then, as Rick walked away, Olivia crept out the window whispering under her breath: "Granddaughter".

As Olivia landed on the ground on the other side, the first thing she noticed were the winged harpies walking up and down the camp grounds. She stayed in the shadows of the Ares cabin until she saw a blind spot between harpies.

She tried to lunge into it, but she missed. The moment her foot caused a twig to snap, every harpy stopped and looked over to her.

_Crap! _She thought as they began closing in on her.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand and pulled her into the woods. Olivia was dragged only a few feet into the woods before she pulled out the dagger from its sheath and sliced at the arm the yanked her from the harpies.

"OW!" a voice gasped as the arm released her.

Olivia, free of her captor, took a defensive stance and clumsily readied herself for battle. The person who took her stood hunched over in the shadows, wincing in pain. Only when he stepped from underneath the shade of the trees, did she recognize his face. Nico di Angelo.

"What are you doing?" Olivia hissed at him, thoroughly annoyed.

"I could ask you the same. Curfew was an hour ago." He whispered back.

"Yeah, then why aren't you in bed?" Olivia accused, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"My father is a ruler of shadows." Nico clarified. "I can be out as late as I want."

Olivia scoffed. "Oh, so the rules don't apply to you, but they apply to me."

"Yep, especially since you're a newbie." Nico added. "And it definitely shows. No, demigod here would ever allow themselves to get caught by a flock of harpies."

"I had it under control." Olivia lied. "You didn't have to save me."

"Good, because I'm regret doing so." Nico shot back as he held out his arm.

It was gushing out dark red blood that even Olivia could see in the reflecting light of the moon.

She looked back up at his face. "Well, if you hadn't dragged me away, I wouldn't have had to cut you."

"Oh, Of course!" Nico retorted sharply. "I'll try to remember that next time I'm saving your life."

At that, Olivia just looked at the ground before sitting in the soft grass, her back resting on the trunk of a juniper tree. For a long moment they just listened to the sounds of the night around them. The chirping of crickets. The sounds of leaves brushing against one another in the wind. The sound of the harpies still stalking the camp grounds.

"Is it… a deep cut?" She asked in small voice, still not looking up at his eyes.

Nico sighed at her and took the seat next to her.

"I'm not gonna die, if that's what you mean." He answered.

He put the top collar of his shirt between his teeth. Then, using the hand that wasn't connected to an injured arm, he ripped a shred of cloth from his orange t-shirt. Olivia then watched him wrap the cloth around the gash as his camp shirt fell open revealing his naked chest.

Olivia looked straight ahead.

"So…" Nico began, not noticing her avoidance of eye contact. "This is the first time I've seen you without your brother."

"You've only known me for two days." She scoffed back.

"Still," He continued. "You seem rather protective of him."

"I have to be," She replied as she took out the dagger on her waist.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that dagger." Nico stated. "I mean, since this is your first time in camp half-blood, where'd you manage to pick up a celestial bronze weapon?"

"Phobos." Olivia replied as she touched the tip of the blade to her index finger.

"What?" Nico croaked, looking at her in shock.

Olivia's expression turned somber. "I didn't know it at the time, but it was him, Zach's father, Phobos."

"When?" Nico exclaimed.

Olivia took in a deep breath before sighing it out. "It was after Zach's first temper tantrum six years ago."

* * *

_10-year-old Olivia sat cowering in a corner, staring at her baby brother. The two-year-old was sleeping now, but less than 10 minutes ago, he'd been… well, exactly what Olivia hadn't been expecting from a toddler. _

_He'd practically turned into a demon because Olivia had taken a pair of car keys from him. _

"_What are you?" She asked the baby, but it stayed at rest. _

"_He is like you." A voice said. It sent a chill down her spine, even colder than the child._

_Olivia quickly turned around to see a familiar face. _

"_I should've known it was you, Frank." Olivia replied rather coldly._

* * *

Nico laughed. "Frank?"

"Telling a story here!"

"Sorry,"

* * *

_Olivia looked up at her mother's ex-boyfriend. She knew the man didn't like her, and she also knew there was something about him that she didn't like either, but because of her mother, the two just went on agreeing to disagree. _

"_What are you doing here?" Olivia practically growled. _

"_Such hostility." He replied as he glared at her. "Can't a man just drop by to see his son?" _

"_Not when that man decides to visit specifically when his son's mother isn't home. Not when that man left his son and mother of his child without so much as a phone call for two years. No, that man can't just drop by to see his son." Olivia reprimanded. _

_This was the guy who'd left her mother in tears for the second time in her life. There was no way Olivia was holding back now. _

"_Very well, since you think you're such a grown-up now…" He pulled something out from behind his back. A dagger._

_Olivia jumped back from him, readying herself for the attack to come. But, with her arms braced in front of her, she did not feel a blow. Instead, she allowed her arms to fall as she saw that Phobos was not attacking her with the dagger, but handing it to her. _

_Olivia at first only stared at it, before looking up at the man. "Why?"_

"_Because I am now making it your official responsibility to take care of my son no matter what the cost," Phobos decreed._

"_Really?" Olivia asked condescendingly as she took his dagger. "And what makes you think I can handle taking care of your fatherless child." _

"_Because if you don't, I will come back and rip you limb from limb for allowing my son and your better to be injured." And it was probably the most frightening glare the Daughter of Deimos had ever seen._

* * *

"So that's why you're so protective of him!" Nico realized.

"Not really." Olivia contradicted.

* * *

_The moment Phobos left their house and disappeared, the ten-year-old Olivia stared down at her new bronze dagger. And then she heard loud cries coming from her brother's crib. She walked over the edge, making sure the dagger was behind her so that it wouldn't scare the toddler. _

_Or worse, peak his interest. _

_And as she looked down in the crib with caution, afraid that the child might turn demonic again, the baby saw her and his loud cries began to relax into soft gurgling noises. _

_Then, with his huge green eyes, he looked up at her and spoke. "Oli…" _

_And Olivia smiled at the boy._

* * *

"That's when I realized that he wasn't just a son of Phobos that I'd been ordered to protect. He was my baby brother." Olivia stated as she looked up at the moonlight. "I protect him because I want to."

Nico looked at her, almost surprised, as a twinge of nostalgia ran through him. Olivia really reminded him of his sister.

"Zach's one lucky kid." Nico replied before getting up and facing her. "Well, I think that's enough adventure for one night, wouldn't you say? Come on, I'll walk you back to your cabin,"

Olivia looked up the open hand he'd held out for her, but her eyes got sidetracked as they began trailing up the rest of his arm. The wind caused the sides of his ripped shirt to fly open, allowing his bare torso to be revealed. Olivia's eyes ran over his tanned skin and sculpted abdomen. She could see a few scars, but nothing big enough to obstruct the clear picture of his chest. The picture that she couldn't find a way to tear her eyes away from.

_The body of a warrior… not bad, _she thought to herself.

"Hey, are you coming or not?" Nico asked, breaking through her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Olivia obliged as she took his hand. She only hoped the boy couldn't see the blush on her cheeks.

* * *

**Well, that was chapter 4 of Nothing To Fear. Hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm going to post the next one up in a few days, so please be patient with me!**

**Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	5. Un Ignorable

**This is the 5th chapter of Nothing to Fear. I hope you guys love it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

* * *

Nothing To Fear

Chapter 5- Un-Ignorable

_The wind caused the sides of his ripped shirt to fly open, allowing his bare torso to be revealed. My eyes ran over his tanned skin and sculpted abdomen. I could see a few scars, but nothing big enough to obstruct the clear picture of his chest. The picture that I couldn't find a way to tear my eyes from._

"_Are you coming?" He asked as he outstretched his hand towards me._

_His bright brown eyes shown in the moonlight, as did his chivalrous smile. _

_I took his hand and felt the warmth of his palm against my own. It only lasted for a moment because he abruptly let go when I was up to my feet. I tried not to miss its feel. We started walking back to my cabin via the woods so that harpies wouldn't catch us. Oh, how I wish he'd pull his shirt closed._

_Oh, how I wish he won't._

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

Olivia sprung awake, panting and scanning the surrounding area for the source of the noise that had woken her up.

"Just the Morning siren, Newbie," said Clarisse.

Olivia let a sigh of relief pass her lips as she rolled out of bed. She grabbed her duffle bag and was about to walk into the bathroom, but Clarisse pushed her back onto her covers.

"There're only 3 showers in the girl's bathroom. New kids go last." She stated smugly before walking past her.

Olivia only glared at the wall as she let Clarisse, along with her annoying sisters, go before her. And she didn't even waste her breath raising anger or having a fit- she knew all too well there was nothing she could do. She just had to get all the newbie initiations over with while she still had her patience.

And she could only imagine how her little brother was doing on the boy's side of the cabin.

* * *

Zach fell out of his bed when the Siren went off.

"Uh oh," He muttered as he covered his ears from the siren.

"Out of my way, brat," said a rude of son of Ares as he pushed Zach aside to get to the bathroom.

Zach fell back on his butt before looking towards the boy who'd pushed him to the ground. "You should really say 'Excuse me'!"

The boy continued on his way as Zach got back up to his feet. He rubbed the seat of his shorts as he looked up and noticed that all the boys in the cabin were walking to get in a line.

He scurried to get in line with them, but once he'd found a place, someone grabbed him by his shoulder.

"Hey, newbies last!" they yelled as they pulled Zach back.

Zach was about to fall on the floor for the third time. But somebody caught him before the ground could.

"Easy, Kid," the guy said as he caught the eight-year-old. Then the guy turned around at the rude boy who'd pulled Zach out of line. "Jeff, you know the rules about what goes on in this cabin. If I catch you picking on another kid-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," Jeff cut off before moving forward in line.

Zach tilted his head back to look up at the person who'd saved him. "Who're you?"

"Name's Rick Simmons." he answered.

"Mine's Zachary!" Zach replied as he stared up him with a happy smile. "My sister just calls me Zach… unless I do something bad."

"Sister… oh, you mean, that chick that moved in with you yesterday." Rick remembered with a shadow of a smirk on his face.

"Mhm! But, mister, what is this line for?" Zach asked with his curious green eyes.

"Just the showers." The second-in-command answered. "And I told you, it's Rick."

"Oh! Right, sorry!" The boy apologized.

A small smirk appeared of Rick's face. "It's fine, runt. Come on, you can wait with me."

* * *

When Olivia walked out of the bathroom, she was hastily getting dressed. This was the longest time Zach had ever been away from her, and she was a bit worried about how he was doing on his own.

She flinched.

She even hated thinking about him being on his own.

As she slipped on her sneakers, she busted open through her cabin door only to find that the rest of the Ares kids were already outside waiting. At that point, Olivia was just happy she wasn't the last one out.

The moment she closed her door behind her, Zach ran over to her, his face clean and his smile beaming.

"Morning, Oli!" he greeted happily.

"Um… morning, Zach," Olivia acknowledged, feeling foolish for worrying so much in the first place.

"Come on," Zach directed as he pulled Olivia forward.

Olivia allowed herself to be dragged but then made an abrupt halt when she saw who she was being dragged over to. A certain son of Ares she'd like to forget. She glared at him, but Zach continued to pull her forward.

"Oli! This is Rick!" Zach introduced. "He helped me this morning,"

"We've met." Olivia replied coldly.

"Aw, you remember me." Rick replied with a smirk.

Before she could make a comeback, Clarisse cut her off. "Alright, low lives, we're heading to the mess hall."

And with that everyone began heading in a single direction. Olivia just decided to stay in the crowd as she held on to Zach's hand. Better to be a face in the crowd than a sore thumb.

When they got to the mess hall, Olivia dropped Zach's hand and her mouth fell agape. She knew the camp was big, but she didn't know it was filled with so many kids. She thought it'd be 7 or 8 dozen. She saw hundreds. They were all filling up tables, especially one table in particular that looked over flowed.

_With this many kids, we probably won't stick out much, _she thought to herself as she looked down to her brother only to discover he wasn't there.

Olivia looked around for the short brunette, trying not to let her paranoia get the best of her when she thought of the eight-year walking along side armed warriors. When she finally found him, he was in line for breakfast, standing next to Rick. The boy excitedly went for the biscuit when he thought Rick wasn't looking.

Olivia put a hand over her stomach as it growled loudly and decided to join the two.

* * *

As the three sat down at the Ares table, the other campers scooted away from them, at least as far as they could without falling off their seat.

"We Ares kids just really don't like newbies." Rick notified. "Don't mind them."

"I don't," Olivia replied as she pushed her food across her plate. "I'm just surprised you're not one of them."

Rick looked at Zach. "I have a little brother at home. He's about Zach's age now."

Zach looked back up at him with a bright smile. "Is he special like me?"

Olivia watched Rick actually make an expression that wasn't a smirk. Instead, it was a saddening smile that just couldn't help but peak her curiosity. "He's not a half-blood, if that's what you mean."

"And if it wasn't what he meant?" Olivia urged.

"Campers, if I could gather your attention," Chiron's booming voice called.

Rick looked over to Chiron regardless of the fact that Olivia was still waiting for an answer from him.

"Yesterday, two new demigods were welcomed into our home. I only hope you'll treat them with the same respect you treat each other."

The Ares kids snickered.

_Yep, they're such respectful kids, _Olivia thought to herself as she allowed her eyes to drop back to her plate.

"And without further to do, we now hail, Olivia Seaton, daughter of Deimos, and Zachary Seaton, son of Phobos," He announced. Olivia looked up when she heard her name called.

Only when she looked up did she realize that hundreds of eyes were pointed at her. Eyes of curiosity, eyes of cautiousness, eyes of hostility. And through the crowd, Olivia only saw two eyes of welcoming, along with a familiar smile. Nico di Angelo.

But his smile only lasted for seconds before he turned away. By the time he turned away, Olivia realized she hadn't even smiled back. When she realized her chance was gone, she looked back down at her food, wishing she had.

* * *

When breakfast ended, the three began heading to the training grounds to find out what field the two were most skilled in.

Their first stop was the archery stations. Olivia watched the experienced archers strike bull's-eyes. They made it look so easy, but as Rick handed her a canister of arrows and a bow, Olivia only felt more out of place.

"Just pull back slowly, index and middle finger." Rick instructed. "Use your right hand to pull back, not your left… what're you trying to do, shoot someone's eye out?… your other right… your shoulders are too tense, loosen up… your formations completely off… are you trying to be bad at this?"

"Look, this is the first time I'm shooting an arrow, alright?" Olivia snapped.

"Then shoot it!" He yelled back.

Olivia focused on the target. _I can do this, _she thought to herself. But before releasing her arrow, she saw a certain son of Hades in her peripheral. Nico stopped mid step, turned to look at her, and gave a nod in her direction. Olivia made sure to respond with a nod of her own. Unfortunately, Olivia was so focused on not ignoring the boy like she did at breakfast, that her fingers slipped and she ended up firing the arrow and nearly putting a hole in someone's foot a couple yards behind the target.

"Sorry!" Olivia yelled. The person looked up and glared at her. It was a girl with long blonde hair and angry green eyes. Her hands, though petite, were bawled up into fists and ready to do damage.

"Watch it, new kid!" She yelled in a high pitch voice. Olivia tried not to laugh at the girl's attempt to threaten her.

"I'll get the arrow!" Zach replied as he began running towards the feathered stick.

While Zach ran, Olivia looked over a Nico to see that he too was hiding his laughter, but not from the blonde, from Olivia. And Olivia only half-heartedly glared at him for it.

"You know, I meant to ask this before, but, what happened on your walk last night?" Rick asked from behind her.

Olivia jumped slightly from Rick's question and looked away from the Son of Hades. She then hurriedly picked up another arrow and pulled back her arm to cover her slightly reddened face as she notched it.

"Nothing."

* * *

**And that was the 5th chapter of Nothing To Fear! I hope you guys liked it. Sorry it took me so long. I've just been on a terrible writer's block lately. XP Hopefully, I'll have the next one up before I leave for Miami on Thursday.**

**Please Review!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	6. Blue and Green

**Sorry guys, this one's a little shorter than usual, but I hope you still like it. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO**

* * *

Nothing To Fear

Chapter 6- Blue and Green

Nico looked out across the beach. The waves were crashing on the shores and pulling back ever so gracefully. Sometimes the tide left sea shells, sometimes it took more sand than it could handle. But regardless its motion stayed constant as the sun rose to parallel its horizon.

The Son of Death ran his hands through the sand and watched it fall through the gap between his fingers.

"Nico?" the boy heard someone ask.

Nico turned around to see a certain son of Poseidon grinning at him. He grinned back.

"Percy! Hey, man," the kid greeted.

Percy slammed himself into the sand next to Nico. "Nice scar."

Nico followed his line of vision to see the freshly healed scar holding his tan skin together and remembering how he got it only made him want to laugh.

Percy saw the boy smile at his scar, but decided to question him on it.

"So… Where've you been?" Nico's smile fell.

"Underworld." He sighed as he looked back out to Long Island Sound.

"What? Did your Dad ask you for a favor or something?" Percy urged as he gave the boy a concerned look.

"No, nothing like that." Nico answered. "I was just looking for… her again."

"Nico… there are millions of souls in the fields of Asphodel," Percy reasoned. "The possibility of finding your mother-"

"I already know my chances are slim, but I still have to try!" Nico interrupted. "Besides, I'd rather search for her than do a quest for the King of the Gods himself…"

Percy just looked at him for a long time. "Nico… grudges are your fatal flaw. You know that."

"I do, but forgiveness isn't an option. Not till I find her." Nico decided as he rose up to his feet.

"Hold on!" Percy yelled after him. "Why did you even come here if you're still pissed off at you-know-who?"

"Because I was just dropping by to say 'Hi'," Nico replied with a shrug.

Percy allowed a small smile to pass his lips. "Then why are you here now?"

"Have you heard of the new demigods that just got here?" Nico began.

"Uh… yeah, there're two of them: a girl and a little boy," Percy recalled.

"Yeah, well, I met them on the way over here. They needed a way to camp, I decided to be their guide," Nico explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "They're interesting though."

Percy gave him a peculiar look. "How so?"

"The girl's a daughter of Deimos and the boy's a son of Phobos,"

Percy glared at the Son of Hades.

Nico quickly raised his hands in defense. "I know, I know, sensitive subject, but they are!"

Percy just let his anger pass over, before continuing. "Well, then they're the first to walk in camp."

"Exactly! And they're brother and sister, like, through their mom,"

Percy's eyes widened a bit. "That's kinda awkward."

Nico shook his head. "Not for them. She actually reminds me of Bianca. They're both extremely protective."

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

Nico looked in the direction of the mess hall. "I almost missed that sound,"

Percy laughed. "I know, it's like when I'm home and I sleep right through the sound of my alarm clock because it's too quiet."

Nico nodded at the Son of Poseidon's comment. That alarm was once the most annoying thing that he'd ever heard. But now… now, it was like a bell calling him to a home he no longer wanted to be a part of.

Percy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's head to breakfast."

And as they began heading to the mess hall, Percy suddenly stopped with a look of realization streaking across his face. "Hey! We don't have any cabins for Phobos or Deimos yet!"

Nico chuckled. "Nothing gets by you, Perce,"

That earned him a shove in his arm. "Well then, genius, where'd you put them?"

"In their grandfather's cabin," Nico muttered almost inaudibly. Percy nearly tripped over himself.

"YOU PUT THEM IN THE ARES CABIN?" Percy shouted.

Demigods who'd heard his voice turned to look back at him and snicker before moving on to the mess hall when they saw Percy's glare. When they were gone though, the Son of Poseidon put his glare on Nico.

"You know, you've just signed off of on their death sentence, right?" Percy scrutinized.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Percy, they're half-bloods. It's not like they had high life expectancy to begin with."

* * *

Nico sat down at the Hades table, scarfing down pancakes, when he heard Chiron's booming voice.

"Yesterday, two new demigods were welcomed into our home. I only hope you'll treat them with the same respect you treat each other."

Nico smirked. _Yeah, because we're all such respectful kids._

"And without further to do, we now hail, Olivia Seaton, daughter of Deimos, and Zachary Seaton, son of Phobos," He announced.

Nico turned his head towards the Ares table like everyone else. When he spotted the familiar girl from last night, he couldn't help but feel bad for her. She played with the food on her plate and tried to notice everyone staring at her. She even kept her long, wavy, brown hair in a position so it was covering half of her face. Slowly, the girl looked up and her blue eyes caught onto Nico's dark ones.

The son of Hades just gave her a reassuring smile before turning away, knowing the girl would be too proud to return it.

After breakfast he walked in the direction of the training grounds, Percy by his side.

"I miss camp breakfast," Nico decided as he padded his stuffed stomach.

"Yeah, I noticed," Percy joked. "But I gotta go teach some kids how to ride a Pegasus so I'll catch ya later,"

"Alright, man, see ya," Nico stated as Percy walked away.

Nico continued to the sword training grounds, hoping to fight someone with some skill. But he knew, since the best camp sword-fighter was teaching new kids how to ride flying horses, he'd probably be out of luck. As he walked down the dirt path, he spotted Olivia pulling back an arrow.

He decided to stay and watch to see if she was any good at archery, but Olivia caught his gaze and turned to look at him. Nico nodded at her in acknowledgement, not wanting to do anything too distracting because he knew from first-hand experience that when you've got a pointed arrow, ready to be fired, it's best to pay attention.

Unfortunately, Olivia was not aware of that. She gave him a nod back and completely lost her concentration. She even tried to smile, but then she realized the arrow had flown from her bow and nearly impaled someone's foot.

Nico desperately tried to hold back his laughter at the shocked look on the Olivia's face.

"Sorry!" The daughter of Deimos called.

The girl she nearly hit glared at her. "Watch it, new kid!"

Then Olivia tried not to laugh at the girl before she realized that Nico still laughing at her. But when the Son of Hades caught her blue-eyed glare, he quickly shut up. Then, Olivia abruptly looked away from him and notched another arrow.

As Olivia attempted to focus on the actual target, Nico saw her earlier victim walk towards him.

"Hey, sorry about her," Nico apologized. "You know how it is with new kids,"

The girl stopped at looked at him with heated green eyes. "Yeah, well she needs to learn how use that bow before she kills someone. LIKE ME FOR EXAMPLE!"

And as she began walking off, something came over Nico that compelled him to follow her. "Hey wait, what's your name?"

The girl's eyes shifted from heated to slightly annoyed. "Why?"

Nico shrugged and showed a casual smile. "Just asking,"

She raised an eyebrow at him, but answered nonetheless. "Darlene, Daughter of Aphrodite,"

"Got it," Nico replied as he watched her strut away.

And as he walked away in the opposite direction, he thought back to those beautiful, angry, green eyes.

* * *

**Well that was the 6th chapter of Nothing To Fear. I hope you all liked it! Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	7. Scared Of Being The Dark?

**I don't even know how to explain how sorry I am, guys. Especially those of you who have been waiting for this story.**

**There is no excuse for a writer to leave her story behind. No excuse at all. And I hope you all will forgive me. :(**

**Anyway, here's Nothing to Fear chapter seven. How you take it as my bribe for your forgiveness.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO, but I do own this story!**

* * *

Nothing To Fear

Chapter 7- Scared Of Being The Dark?

Olivia fell to the ground again, another scar on her arm to add to her uncle's current collection.

"Keep your guard up," Rick ordered as she slowly got up.

"Of course," She grumbled as she got back on her feet.

Thwap.

Thawp.

Cling!

Lunge!

THUMP!

"What is the point of this?! I'm not even getting any better!" Olivia growled after hitting the dirt for the umpteenth time.

"That's because you're not trying to." He answered as continued to stand ready to defend himself.

"I am trying," Olivia replied as she lunged at him yet again only to end up with his blade at her throat.

"Doubtful," Rick proclaimed. "If you were trying, your battle instincts would have kicked in by now."

"Battle instincts," Olivia restated.

"Haven't you ever had a moment when you had this kind of 'Fight or Flight' response? And all or nothing instant?" He questioned as he half-heartedly twirled his sword at her.

Olivia's eyes twitched to Zach, slashing his sword through the air like he was fighting an invisible enemy. Then her eyes flittered back to Rick not a second later.

"Yeah, once." She replied.

"Then let's find a way to bring it out again," Rick suggested and he brought his sword down only to have it desperately blocked.

While Olivia was practicing, Zach swung his sword around playfully. It weighed quite a bit in his thin arms, but he was fine with it as he slashed it across the thin air around him. He lunged and sliced and ran his blade until he heard a faint giggle behind. It nearly startled him enough to drop his sword before he immediately twisted around to find his distraction.

There, in the woods a few feet away from the training grounds, were small wood nymphs smiling his way. The smallest was holding her hand over her mouth trying to keep from giggling. Zach only stared in awe at first, before smiling back and raising one of his hands to wave at them. The wood nymphs retreated, noticing that they'd been seen, but the smallest, the one that had been giggling, waved back at him before running off.

Zach's smile widened a bit, and curiosity seemed to take over his senses. Unfortunately, before he could venture into the forest after them, he heard footsteps coming his way and turned his head in time to see three big guys heading towards him.

"Hey, pipsqueak, that's my sword you got," The biggest stated, towering over his small frame.

Zach looked from the sword back up to him. "It's yours?"

"Didn't I just say that?" The guy retorted, slightly irked.

The child's grip on the handle tightened. "Well, can I keep it for a bit?" Zach asked.

The guy raised an eyebrow at the boy before looking at friends behind him and laughing loudly.

"Look, runt," He started. "The sword. Is mine. Go get your own."

The big kid snatched his blade away from Zach's grasp, pushing him down in the process. Zach got up to his feet, before brushing off his clothes and glaring at the kid twice his size.

"You didn't have to push me," The 8-year-old called.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do about it?" the biggest asked as he and his cackling buddies started closing in on him.

"L-leave me alone," Zach stuttered as his took a few steps back.

* * *

When Olivia suddenly stopped attacking, Rick looked at her oddly.

"What? We were actually getting somewhere," He commented, confused.

Olivia looked around, knowing something was wrong. Then she looked over at Zach and instantly knew where her bad feeling was coming from.

"Zach. No." She muttered to herself as she ran top speed in his direction.

* * *

"Sorry, kid, can't let you get away that easy," one of the others laughed.

Zach shut his eyes tight, feeling his corneas start to burn. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Before he could open his eyes and unleash someone who hadn't been seen in a quite a while, Olivia leaped between two of the bullies and tackled her brother to the ground.

"STOP IT, ZACH!" She yelled down at him, keeping her eyes from making contact with his.

But Zach was gone.

In his place was the cracking face of a child, fire spurting from the chipping of his flesh. His eyes had turned blood red, embedded with dark black pupils, and his smile was the most terrifying, stretching from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat. It definitely was not Zach anymore.

The demonic child pushed Olivia aside, its fingernails digging into her side as he did so. Olivia's body flipped over revealing the thing that was once her little brother to the rest of the world.

When the bullies that once tried to attack him saw his face, they screamed to the highest frequency of their voices and ran in the opposite direction. Rick just fell back on his butt, stunned and scared for the first time in his life. The creature crawled towards him, not recognizing him as an ally.

Abruptly, he was held back when Olivia grabbed his arm. The demon turned its head around and growled loudly at her, showing off the sharpness of its teeth.

"Come out of it, Zachy!" Olivia urged.

The demon growled louder, its claws twitching with blood lust.

"Look at me, Zachary," she ordered as she grabbed its other arms and forced its crimson eyes to stare into her green ones.

Slowly, but surely the snarling began to soften.

"…Oli…?" Zach's voice roared softly, his Cheshire cat grin fading from his lips.

The creature's skin began to heal over its chipping and Olivia even saw his teeth contract before he collapsed in her arms. After a moment, she picked herself up from the ground, looking at the resting face of her normal little brother.

"What… was that?" Rick replied, still staring at Zach's body wide-eyed.

"The reason I wish people wouldn't pick on Zach," Olivia answered as she carried her brother out of the training grounds.

Rick quickly followed after her, but from a safe distance. "Yes, but what was it?"

"It was just Zach being a true son of Phobos," She replied.

"Just?"

"Well, this only happens when he gets really scared," Olivia muttered as she looked down at the boy in her arms, resting softly. "I guess you could say that turning into that thing is his battle instinct, except that he falls unconscious right after,"

Rick ran ahead of Olivia and stopped her from going any further. "Olivia… he became a monster. He nearly killed me!"

"It wasn't his fault." Olivia retorted as she glared at his face.

"Regardless, he needs to learn to control that power, or he might even kill you," He demanded as his eyes flickered between Zach and his sister. "Because being threatened is not uncommon to the Ares Cabin. I can't have this kid trying to kill my brothers."

"He doesn't _want_ to hurt you!" Olivia countered.

"Tell that to the thing inside him." Rick responded before walking away from the two.

Olivia watched him go before looking down at her baby brother, thinking that he had in fact gotten worse since the last time he transformed.

* * *

Olivia made her way into an empty cabin where she placed Zach on the bed she'd identified as his. She covered him with soft blankets, before kneeling at his bedside.

She'd seen him that way many times, each time stronger than the last. She remembered the first time he bared his teeth at her, the first time he showed that spiteful grin, and the first time he ever tried to hunt someone down in that form. She'd seen it all. She'd always been the one to bring him back. Save him from himself.

But this time… this time was different. She'd never had to try that hard to get him to come back. And if she hadn't, that demon would have killed Rick.

"You sure do have one hell of a temper tantrum," She whispered to his sleeping form. She got up from her place at his bed side and walked over to the empty cabin bathroom.

She walked up the mirror standing on top of the sink. Slowly, she lifted up her camp t-shirt to see a red and purple four-fingered bruise laid against her pale skin. She kept her shirt up with one hand, and ran over the bruises with her other.

Never once had she suffered that intense a mark from the demon.

She looked around the bathroom for a moment. _Maybe, there's a first aid-_

"Oli?"

Olivia quickly pulled her shirt down and turned around swiftly to see a shocked and extremely awake little brother.

"Zach, I thought you were still asleep," was all she said before Zach took a hesitant step towards her.

"…I did that, didn't I," Zach murmured. "You stomach's purple because of me."

Olivia sighed at her brother. "Zach-"

"I'm sorry, Oli," He breathed, desperation lining his every word as he took another step forward. "I didn't mean it."

Zach ran the rest of the way over to his sister, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her waist.

"It's okay, Zachy," She stated reassuringly as she kneeled down to his height. "I'm okay."

He looked up at her, his green eyes filled with guilt and grief. Olivia just stared at them for a while before hugging her brother tightly in a vain attempt to hug away his pain.

* * *

As lunch commenced, Olivia got up from her seat and walked over to Chiron, enjoying his own meal.

"Chiron," She called.

The centaur stopped mid bite when he heard his name be called and looked down to see one of his newest campers looking at him expectantly.

"Ms. Seaton, what do I owe the pleasure?" He probed curiously.

Olivia's eyes never left his. "My brother, the son of Phobos,"

"Yes, what about him?" Chiron questioned further, raising an eyebrow at the child.

"I want you to help me train him."

* * *

**Well, that was the latest chapter of Nothing To Fear. I hope you all loved it! Leave Reviews!**

**And I guarantee the next chapter will be up by next week. I promise!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	8. Good and Bad Publicity

**Like I said, not even a full week has gone by. ;) I hope you guys have forgiven for my past disappearance.**

**Anyway, here's Chapter 8 of Nothing to Fear, I hope you all love it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO!**

* * *

Nothing to Fear

Chapter 8- Good and Bad Publicity

Olivia walked down the middle of the road to start her new chore of cleaning out the Pegasus stables for the day.

Halfheartedly dragging her feet across the ground, she couldn't help wondering about how her brother's day was going. He was with Rick at the moment, that much she knew, but it was just that news tended to spread like wild fire around teenagers, especially in a camp full of them. She knew that Zach wasn't ready to be some scandal to be heard about in whispers, and now he had no other choice.

Somehow she felt like, on some level, this was her fault. If she'd trained him earlier…

_"Olivia, you are a true daughter of Deimos, and your brother, a son of Phobos… You were both meant for better things than this." _

She only wished she knew what that 'better' thing was that her mother had spoken of.

"Hey!"

Olivia looked up to find the owner of the voice, and after a moment she saw a guy who looked at least eighteen years old. Even from far away, Olivia could see his icy blue eyes covered over by dirt brown hair which she could barely see from his towering height. He strutted his elongated body by briskly walking towards to her.

He halted right in front of her. "You're Olivia, daughter of Deimos, right?" he requested.

Olivia's eyes narrowed up at him.

"Yeah, Why?" She interrogated. He gave a welcoming smile in an attempt to ward off her suspicions.

"Hey, I'm Robert Heron," He introduced, his smile never leaving his face. "I'm here to talk to you about your new cabin in the process of being built."

Olivia's mistrust dropped as her eyebrows rose in interest. "The Cabin?"

"Come on, I'll show you where we're going start the construction," he directed as he began walking towards the woods.

"But I have to clean the Pegasus stables!" Olivia yelled after him.

"This is more important," he replied as he continued walking, not even bothering to look over his shoulder.

Olivia looked down at the cleaning tools in her hands before running after the abnormally tall teenager.

* * *

After a while of walking around aimlessly, the two stopped at some arbitrarily open space in the forest.

"This is where I was thinking of starting," Robert began as he gestured to the landscape with an excited smile. "As a son of Hephaestus, I'm in charge of the building for this project."

Olivia couldn't stop a smirk from forming on her lips. "Rob the Builder?"

His smile fell. "Don't remind me. I constantly ask my mom why she chose that name."

Olivia let out a small chuckle at his comment before looking over the terrain. The trees were towering but not enough to stop the rays of sunlight from shining through and though they were in the forest, there didn't seem to be any pests around. The area wasn't too far from the rest of the camp either.

"I like it."

Robert's showed a small smile at her verdict. "Good, then now we've just got to decide what to make here,"

Olivia looked up at him, expectantly. "Well, what were you thinking?"

His once shining blue eyes began to fill with apprehension. He sat down in the leaves beneath him, and even sitting, he was up to Olivia's hip.

"Honestly, that's what I brought you for."

She followed after him and sat down on crumpling grass. "Well… where do we start?"

"How about… something that children of Terror would like? Maybe a haunted house? Bats living under the bunks?"

Olivia glared at the teen. "I'm not a vampire! Besides why would we want a haunted house when we can make our own?"

"Sorry," He apologized while still looking somberly at the space in front of him. "I just don't know what would best represent Deimos. And… this is the first cabin they've ever let me design. I really don't wanna mess it up."

Olivia's glare softened as she looked as his downcast expression. Then she turned her eyes to look around the rest of forest before standing up to her feet.

"It needs to be creepy," She started as she walked around the building site. "Like monster claws on the walls or surrounded by eerie smoke. Not like a haunted house, more like the suspense in a horror film,"

Robert, catching on to her eagerness, rose to his feet with a bounce, new hope burning bright in his eyes. "Yeah! Yeah, I can see that! With some really dark colors?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Olivia exclaimed.

"What else? What else?" He asked as they paced around in the leaves.

Olivia sighed off her excitement. "I don't know… But it's not like the whole thing has to be built in a day, right? We can come up with more stuff tomorrow."

Robert enthusiasm couldn't be extinguished. "Yeah, you're right! How about tomorrow, right after lunch?"

"Sure, no problem," She agreed. "But if we're done for right now, you'll have to excuse me. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to be at the Pegasus stables about ten minutes ago."

Olivia picked up her cleaning tools and began her way to the stables. Before she knew it though, Robert was right next to her, smile ablaze.

"I'll walk with you." He suggested.

* * *

At first the two started talking about the cabin and how the inside would look, but before they knew it they were talking about their favorite bands and TV shows.

"I can't believe you were that into the Beatles," Olivia stated through laughs.

"Hey, that haircut is still the most awesome thing ever seen in an elementary school yearbook," He defended through laughter of his own.

"I bet," Olivia replied as she got to the Pegasus stables to see Nico cleaning alone.

"Hey, Nico!" Olivia called, making Nico look up. When he saw her though, his eyes quickly turned into a sharp glare.

"Olivia, I only agreed to help you with cleaning the stables because I wanted to show you the ropes, not so I could see how fast you could ditch me," he chastised.

"Sorry, Di Angelo, it was my fault," Robert vouched. "I wanted to ask her about the Deimos Cabin."

"Yeah, we got a little sidetracked," Olivia admitted sheepishly.

Suddenly, Robert pulled out a silver pocket watch and checked the time before shoving it back in his pocket. "Speaking of getting sidetracked, I've got something I have to do."

Olivia looked at him oddly; she could've sworn she saw a picture in that watch.

Robert looked up at her curious face and gave a relieving smile. "I'll talk to you later, Olivia."

And with that he turned and started jogging towards the Hephaestus cabin. Olivia smiled softly at his retreating back before looking over to see a suspicious Nico, waiting with a frown on his face.

"What?" Olivia asked as she hopped over the stable fence.

"Oh, nothing," He dismissed, but the frown didn't leave his face.

"Okay…" Olivia muttered unconvinced.

She dug in her tools and started cleaning as Nico had instructed her to do. After a while, it was just the sound of shoveling in the silence.

"So… are you okay?" Nico asked, breaking the quiet.

"Yeah… why?" She questioned askance as she looked at him over her shoulder.

"It's just… I heard about what happened with Zach." Olivia stopped mid-shovel.

She should've known he was going to ask.

"Yeah, it was no big deal," She tried to brush off. "It's not like it was the first time I'd ever seen him like that."

Nico stopped shoveling altogether and walked over to her, kneeling to catch her vision. "I know, but how are you handling that the whole camp is probably thinking what you originally were when you first saw him like that?"

She stared away from his dark gaze. "I just hope the camp won't be too rough on him. I mean, it wasn't even his fault."

"Yeah, I figured that." Nico commented, placing an encouraging hand on her shoulder.

The girl flinched at his touch, but Nico thought nothing of it.

* * *

Olivia, her head still flooded with images of her brother's guilty face, decided to go for a walk. Her feet purposelessly drug across the ground until they tripped in the sand beneath their soles, nearly bringing Olivia down with them.

The demigod, catching herself, looked up to see the horizon of a setting sun against clear water. Pink and orange bled into the sky above her as she took a few more steps towards the water sliding on and off the sand. She stopped inches away from the waves, taking in a breath of sea air.

How could such a beautiful place be empty?

Suddenly, soft footsteps decided to answer her question.

Olivia didn't even look over her shoulder, but her hand did twitch to the blade on her hip.

"You're the Daughter of Deimos, aren't you?" a hostile voice asked.

Olivia took this moment to turn around with hostility of her own. "That's the second time I've been asked that today, but last time was a lot nicer. And to answer your question: Who wants to know? "

The boy looked coldly at her, but answered regardless. "Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon."

Olivia's eyes widened for an instant at the name. "You wouldn't happen to be a friend of Clarisse La Rue, would you?"

"Not really, we don't get along well," Percy replied a shrug, his stoic expression still standing. "However, one of the only things we do agree on is our feelings towards Deimos and Phobos."

Olivia's eyes narrowed. "So you both have a bone to pick with me. Great. Well, if it's any consolation, my brother and I are nothing like our fathers,"

"From what I've heard, that's not so true," He commented.

Olivia turned to face him.

"Watch your tongue, Jackson," She warned. "You don't know anything about my family."

"I know enough from your father." He countered, not letting his guard down.

Olivia only got madder. "And I don't consider him to be any part of my family. I mean, how could I when I've never even seen the man's face? You think I'm one of his spawn, when I'm merely just one of his mistakes. I advise you learn the difference, Jackson,"

Percy was about to make a retort when he felt her words sink in like stones in the water.

Mistake… A word, he knew all too well.

"Maybe… I was wrong about you being like your father," he finally uttered after a silence. "But you'll forgive me if I wait to hold judgment, just to make sure."

"Do whatever you want, Son of Poseidon," Olivia replied as she walked past him and off the beach.

Then her footsteps halted for an instant.

"Just so you know… I like to be called Olivia Seaton, not Daughter of Deimos."

* * *

**Well, that was the 8th chapter of Nothing To Fear! I hope you all loved it! The next one will be up in about a week! :)**

**Please Review!**

**Yours Truly,**

**The Victorian**


	9. Action and Reaction

**New chapter of Nothing To Fear! :D Hope you guys are ready for this!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

* * *

Nothing to Fear

Chapter 9- Action and Reaction

Olivia didn't stop walking from the beach, but she did look over her shoulder angrily.

_Who does he think he is? Geez, with an attitude like that you'd think the guy was the savior of the planet or something. Going around like he owns the whole camp, _She thought angrily to herself.

Unfortunately, she was too busy glaring over her shoulder that she didn't see where she was going.

Abruptly, another person managed to slam into her, knocking them both into the ground. Olivia hit the dirt with a thump, before letting out a painful moan.

"Why don't you watch where you're going!" a familiar voice berated.

Olivia looked up at the voice, about ready to apologize, until she saw who it was. "Clarisse?"

The daughter of Ares glared at her, gripping a spear in her hand. "Be happy I'm in a good mood today."

"Uh… thank you?" Olivia replied as she climbed onto her feet. Clarisse's glare stayed on her until they were both up.

After a moment, her glare faded with only the stable expression of a leader standing in its place. "Look, I heard that your brother scared off some demigods."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you think he's some kind of freak too. Clarisse, I don't need-"

"Actually," She stopped. "I was going to ask you about what happened right before he turned."

Olivia looked at her oddly. "What do you mean?"

"Rick told me about how fast you moved to guard your brother from those muscle heads," Clarisse explained. "Said he'd never seen anyone maneuver that quickly before."

Olivia's confused expression didn't fall. "Still not seeing where you're going with this,"

"I could use speed like that," Clarisse decided, arms folded across her chest.

Interest sparked in her azure eyes. "My speed? For what, exactly?"

"Capture the Flag, of course," She scoffed, with a roll of her eyes. "I figure you're already staying in my cabin, you might as well fight beside me,"

"Um… I-" Olivia muttered, but the daughter of Ares had already turned and started to walk away.

"I'd train pretty hard in the next few days if I were you," Clarisse called over her shoulder. "Demigods can be pretty ruthless around here."

Olivia just watched her go with a stunned look on her face. She didn't even get a chance to ask what Capture the Flag games usually entailed in this camp. But if Clarisse was asking for _her_ help, she wasn't so sure she wanted to know.

* * *

Olivia walked towards the archery set up as the sun set behind her. She knew dinner would be starting soon, but she wanted to see if she could shoot an arrow without hurting someone first.

Then she saw a familiar face concentrating on filing her nails.

_Speak of the devil, _Olivia thought to herself as she passed her.

Unfortunately, when she felt someone pass her, the Aphrodite girl looked up to see the person that had earlier tried to run an arrow through her foot.

"Hey, Deimos kid!" She yelled after Olivia. "The one that tried to kill me,"

Olivia rolled her eyes and turned around to look at the blonde. "I don't even know you. Why would I want to kill someone I don't even know?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Simple jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Olivia asked incredulously. "Why in world would I be jealous of you?!"

"Because of my obviously superior charm," She answered smugly. "I am a daughter of Aphrodite after all,"

"Hmm… well, that explains your obvious vanity," Olivia countered with a smirk. "But I'm just not seeing the charm."

"Watch it, Demon spawn!" She retorted angrily.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek to keep from attacking the girl. "Look, Princess, I'm no demon spawn."

She got a malicious look in her eyes, before letting out a wide smirk. "Oh, that's right! You're mutant half-brother is," She stated shamelessly.

Olivia nearly pulled out her knife, ready to slash away at the mouth that had spit such prejudice at her and her brother. "I'd watch that tongue of yours. Might end up causing me to scar up that pretty face you're so proud of."

"Trust me, you don't want to start something with me, Scare fest," The daughter of Aphrodite proclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Oh, trust me, I really do," Olivia promised, not letting her guard down. Her hand reached towards her dagger.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the intensity.

"Olivia?"

Both demigod girls looked over to see a certain son of Hades, walking over confused.

"Nico?" Olivia replied as she eased out of her attack stance.

"Hey, Olivia," Nico greeted, and then he saw who she was talking to and visibly brightened at the sight of the daughter of Aphrodite. "Darlene! Hey!"

When Olivia heard his excited greeting to her opponent, she couldn't help but glare away from the two.

_What he's so flippin' excited about? _She thought angrily to herself.

Darlene, barely paying attention to Nico, noticed Olivia's side glare when she heard the boy's happy hello. And slowly, a devilish idea bloomed in her head.

She looked over to Nico with a plastic smile. "Hey, Nico, it's nice seeing you again,"

Nico's smile widened at her words which only induced Olivia to roll her eyes. Darlene tried to hide her smirk and the smugness burning from it.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH !

All three reacted to the siren signaling that dinner was about to start.

"Guess I'm out of training time," Olivia muttered to herself as she looked in the direction of the mess hall.

"Well, you should start heading over," Nico suggested to her. "The Ares cabin's table fills up fast,"

"Uh… yeah," Olivia murmured in agreement.

As she looked back at the two, the last thing she wanted to do was leave Nico alone with such a treacherous snake. But even if she didn't want to, she turned and began walking towards the mess hall by herself, trying desperately to shut out the voices telling her how wrong it felt.

Nico looked back to Darlene, his bashfulness beaming. "Um… so are you heading to the mess hall? If so, then maybe we could just walk there tog-"

"I actually have to get something out of my cabin," Darlene turned down politely. "But I'll see you later."

And with that she walked away from the slightly disheartened boy staring after her. After a moment of being a bit discouraged, Nico sighed in a defeat and turned to catch up with Olivia.

"Olivia, wait up!" he yelled.

When the Daughter of Deimos looked back to see him running after her, she stopped and waited for him to catch up, a welcoming smile on her face.

* * *

When the two walked into the mess hall, the Ares cabin was filling up with demigods. Olivia hoped Nico had a good meal before turning to walk to her cabin's table. The moment she saw Zach already sitting down, eyes downcast, she hurried over to sit next to him and across from Rick.

"Zach?" she asked as she sat down and placed an arm around his shoulder.

He just looked down.

"He had a bad day," Rick commented, speaking for Zach's silence.

Olivia looked across the table at Rick. "What happened?"

"Oli… am I monster?" Zach asked, still looking down at his lap.

Olivia never knew a question could break her heart that much. She put her hand on the side of her little brother's face and guided it towards her so that his Paris green eyes were in contact with her Sapphire ones.

"Listen to me, Zachary." She ordered. "I don't care what anyone tells you; you are not a monster."

Zach's eyes became downcast yet again. "You wouldn't say that if you saw the way they looked at me,"

Olivia allowed her hand to fall from his face, her eyes softened on his expression. She looked over to Rick to see his eyes were just as somber towards the kid as hers. She looked back to the eight-year-old, her arm still resting across his shoulder. "Hey, Zachy, you go get something to eat, alright? We'll follow after pretty soon."

The boy sighed. "Okay…"

And he got up and began to walk to the food line, trying to ignore the looks he got as he did so.

Olivia looked from him to Rick. "So… what really happened?"

"News spreads fast," He stated as he glanced at oblivious half-bloods. "I was going to show the kid the armory, and some Athena girls started whispering about how he wouldn't need weapons considering what he was. Then when I took him to see the strawberry fields, the Demeter kids glared at him if he even got close to the plants. At the canoe lake, satyrs avoided even coming near him. He's been getting a rough time."

Olivia couldn't believe how scared and ignorant people could be. Zach was just as helpless as they thought they were whenever he was around. Then a thought returned to her mind.

"Yeah, and what about you?" Olivia confronted, suspicions growing. "If I'm not mistaken, you called him a monster too when you first saw."

Rick let out a guilty sigh. "Yeah… I'm sorry for that. I was just spooked, and… the kid scared the living crap out of me."

Olivia looked over his shoulder at the little boy getting his food. "He doesn't want to. His life would be so much easier without that stupid curse on him."

"Curse?" Rick asked.

Olivia eyes fell back on him. "I assume Phobos cursed him because he wanted him to be safe. So he gave the kid his own security system."

Rick looked back at the boy reaching for a hamburger to put on his plate. "One hell of a system,"

"Yeah, it's gonna be a mess learning how to control it," Olivia replied. "I wonder how he's gonna take to his training."

"Training?" Rick questioned, looking back to the girl, confused yet again.

"Yeah, Chiron's helping me train him starting tomorrow," Olivia informed with a small smile. "But on a different note, what are Capture The Flag games like here?"

The question only made Rick smirk. "Come on, we should get something to eat,"

"Wait! Rick! That's not an answer!"

* * *

**Well that was the latest chapter of Nothing to Fear and I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please Review!**

**Next chapter will be up next week!**

**Yours Truly,**

**The Victorian**


	10. Control is Wielded, Not Achieved

**This chapter is kind of short, but yeah, at least it's here. :/ Here's the tenth chapter of Nothing To Fear. Hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

* * *

Nothing to Fear

Chapter 10- Control is Wielded, Not Achieved

Olivia woke up the next morning, groggy as the sunlight barely glowed on the outside of her window. The siren calling for breakfast hadn't sounded yet.

As she crawled out of her bed and into the nearest shower, the girl washed off the dirt required from the night before and then slipped on a fresh camp T-shirt. She combed through her long brown hair as she looked in the mirror, still hearing the sound of the softly snoring Ares girls in the next room.

Olivia ran her hand down the length of her hair to its tips.

_The ends are spilt, _she noticed as she examined the dark locks. Normally, her mother would have cut it for her on one of the random days she was sober.

She looked up at her reflection once again. She could see it in her own face sometimes. Her nose. Her dimples. Her jawline. They were all like her mother's.

"How are you, Mom?" She whispered to her reflection.

Of course, the mirror didn't respond leaving her question to fade away in the steam from her earlier shower.

Olivia grabbed her things and headed back to her bunk, ready to curl up on her bed with one of the books she used to read to Zach as bedtime stories.

* * *

When everyone in the Ares cabin was awake, Clarisse didn't leisure for any extra time before leading the group to the mess hall.

Once they got to breakfast, Olivia couldn't help but look over to Chiron, sitting at his table along with Dionysus, the God of Wine. The centaur caught her glance and returned it with a reassuring smile. Olivia felt a little relief wash over her, but the moment she saw her little brother stare down at his plate, not willing to look up at anyone around him, she could feel knots of anguish fill her stomach.

When breakfast ended, Chiron wasted no time in coming up to the two, Rick still standing with them.

"Are you ready to train, Mr. Seaton?" Chiron questioned the child.

Zach looked from Olivia, remembering what she'd told him about the training, before looking back at Chiron. "I guess."

"Chiron, you don't mind if I help do you?" Rick requested.

The Centaur threw Olivia a curious look to which she only shrugged to. "I suppose so, if Olivia's alright with it."

"Please don't," Zach muttered as he watched the ground. "You're gonna get hurt."

Rick kneeled in front of the son of Phobos, a brotherly smile on his face. "Don't worry, Kid. I'll be careful."

And with that the group headed to the empty training grounds that Chiron had reserved strictly for their training session.

"Okay," Chiron started. "Let's start with pulling up your… um… dark side."

"I can't," Zach muttered, standing across from them.

"Zachary, don't worry, I won't let you hurt Rick or your sister," He promised with assurance lining his words.

"I know," Zach agreed monotonously. "But I just can't bring him up."

"Zach only pulls him up when he's in danger or when he gets really mad," Olivia explained to Chiron, arms crossed in front of her.

Chiron looked from Olivia to her younger brother, before stepping forward to Zach. Then he got too close for comfort.

Olivia instinctively reached for her knife. "Chiron, what are you doing?"

"Mr. Hollis, please hold Olivia back," Chiron requested as he reached for his own sword. "She cannot interfere."

Rick didn't hesitate in following the order given to him. He quickly grabbed Olivia, and withheld her with arms the size of tree branches.

"What is he doing?!" Olivia yelled, struggling against the boy's grip.

"You've gotta trust his judgment," Rick stated, holding her back with ease.

"Zach, move!"

Zach tried to step back, but he only managed to fall to the ground, fear radiating from him. "W-what are you doing?"

Chiron wordlessly pulled out his sword, gleaming against the sunlight and reflecting off the terror in Zach's eyes. Chiron's arm flexed as he brought the sword down on Zach. The blade didn't cut the eight-year-old, only stopping an inch from his jugular vein.

But it was enough.

Zach's eyes turned blood red, as his teeth began to sharpen to a point.

"Zach…" Olivia breathed as she watched him transform.

The boy's mouth widened into a long smile and his fingernails began to curl into claws and talons, ripping through the rubber soles of his sneakers.

"Here we go again," Rick whispered to himself as he released his grip on Olivia.

Zach's face spurted flames through the cuts in his skin. Suddenly, the chipping flesh started to crack down his arms and legs.

"It's getting worse!" Olivia exclaimed.

She leaped at her brother, tackling him to the ground. The flames burned against her skin and clothes causing Olivia to immediately roll off of her brother and pad down the embers before the burns could become too bad.

"Olivia!" Rick yelled as he ran over to her side.

"I'm fine," she replied through gritted teeth, her eyes still focused on the demonic little brother.

"Alright, now here's where the training takes place," Chiron stated completely calm.

"EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!"

Zach lunged at Chiron, who blocked with his sword still unsheathed. The demon's claws scratched against the blade before he was pushed back.

"Zach!" Olivia yelled at the creature at it focused all its anger on Chiron. "Come back to us!"

The demon only continued in attempting to rip the centaur to shreds in its talons. It sped to the other side of the trainer and slashed at its hind legs. Chiron hissed in pain, but only kept swatting the boy away with his weapon.

"Zachary! Snap out of it!" Rick yelled as he pulled out a sword of his own.

The demon stopped attacking Chiron for a moment when it heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed. Its blood red eyes shot towards Rick before widening its smile further.

Zach jumped on Rick, landing on his blade like a perched bird. Rick tried to shake him off the sword, but once his eyes met Zach's, he stopped moving all together. For a second in time, all Rick could do, was stare into the demon's black pupils.

"Zach, Don't!" Olivia yelled in fear. She knew good and well what happened once the Demon caught its victims gaze…

Suddenly, Chiron slammed into Zach, knocking him away from the Son of Ares. The demon rolled away from the slam before getting back on its feet, ready to play with its prey. It was about to dive underneath Chiron when suddenly, Olivia blocked its way.

"Zach." She demanded. "You turned that way to protect yourself didn't you?"

The creature only snarled at her as if warning her to get out of his way.

"Zach, no one's gonna hurt you." Olivia informed before looking back at Chiron, Rick still recovering from his trance. "Guys, put your weapons down."

They hesitated, looking from Olivia to the creature in front of her.

"Trust me," Olivia urged, feeling their anxiety.

Rick dropped his sword on the ground, his eyes never leaving Olivia's. Chiron soon followed after, sliding his sword back into its sheath. Olivia looked back to her brother.

For the first time, she saw the demon's smile disappear, a long frown taking its place. Then his crimson red eyes became downcast. It was the first time Olivia had ever the creature show an expression besides blood lust. It almost looked… disappointed.

Suddenly, the demon's face healed over and the red in its eyes faded back to green. Soon, all that was left was the face of her brother, back to normal.

"Zach…" Olivia breathed in relief.

There were burn hole in his shirt and rips in his sneakers, but it was her brother. Zach looked at her, and before he could even say he was sorry, he fell down to his knees, fatigue getting the better of him.

"Tired?" She asked as walked up to him.

Zach nodded his head before looking up at his sister. "Hurt?"

She shrugged her shoulder and hid the scorch marks on her arms behind her back. "Not too bad."

Zach sighed as he climbed back onto his feet. "It was disappointed when it left."

"I could tell," Olivia agreed.

The two siblings looked over to Chiron and Rick.

"Right," Chiron said as he did his best to hide the scar bleeding down his hind legs. "I think that's enough training for one day."

"I agree!" Rick called aloud.

"Well, it wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't scared him into it," Olivia softly retorted.

"I'm sorry there was no other choice," Chiron apologized before looking to his newest student. "But this boy… I know he will one day be able to control his beast. And when that day comes, he will have many choices,"

* * *

**And that was the latest chapter of Nothing To Fear! Hope you guys like it! :D Please Review!**

**Next chap will be up next week, no doubt!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	11. Finding Friends

**Hey everyone! Chapter 11 of Nothing To Fear is here! Hope you all love it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO**

* * *

Nothing To Fear

Chapter 11- Finding Friends

Olivia stood by herself in the quiet of the archery stands. The quiet air engulfed her, helping her concentrate on the target. She notched her fifteenth arrow, pulling back on the bow string before releasing it and letting it slice through the air to hit the target.

When the arrow struck onto the circle, Olivia smiled. _8 out of 15. _

Then as fast as her smile came, it faded into a frown. She'd been shooting arrows for an hour, attempting to distract herself from her train of thought that had so easily returned into her head.

The memory of Zach's arms covered in those flame spilling fractures clouded her mind. Why was the demon getting stronger? Would it grow to take over her younger brother? What if it did? Would she really be able to fight it?

Questions ran around and around in her head, and she had no way to answer them.

Abruptly when the soft crunches of footsteps entered her ears, she turned around to see a familiar face.

"Rob?" Olivia questioned at the site of him.

He stood tall above the bushes next to him with a bright smile on his face that reached up to his gleaming ice blue eyes and his long black hair ran down to the bridge of his nose and curled and twisted around his ears as if he just placed them there.

"Hey," He greeted before walking over.

"Hey," She acknowledged with a smile of her own.

Robert looked from her to the target and then back to her with a nod of acceptance. "Good shot,"

"Thanks," Olivia replied as she followed his line of vision before looking back up to his face. "So what brings you here?"

He shrugged. "Just going for a walk,"

Olivia nodded in understanding before looking back at the lodged arrow. She wondered if she'd ever need to use her gift of aim against the demon one day.

"You know," Robert began, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You look like you could use a walk too. Why don't you join me?"

Olivia glanced up at him, thankful to have someone to fill her need for a distraction.

"Sure."

* * *

Zach and Rick were walking to the armory to get Zach fitted for his suit. There was no conversation between the boys, just utter silence.

"Zach," Rick began, trying to break the quietness. "What's wrong?"

"People got hurt," He stated.

"It's not like that's really uncommon in a camp of half-bloods," Rick joked. "And besides, everyone's still okay."

Zach continued to look forward. "Chiron really scared me."

"Yeah, He scared all of us," Rick lied. He wouldn't be telling the truth if he said he didn't see Chiron's actions coming. Zach could only transform if he was attacked, and of course Chiron had no other options.

When the two arrived at the armory, a son of Hephaestus was waiting for them with measuring tape in his hand.

"Alright," Rick started. "He needs chest and waist measurements for a lightweight armor set."

The Hephaestus kid looked from Rick to Zach then back the son of Ares. "He's not gonna attack me, is he?"

The Ares boy took in a sharp breath through his tightened jaw. "No, he won't attack you, but I sure as hell might if you ever ask me that again."

The Hephaestus boy took the measurements, refraining from looking up to see if Rick was still glaring at him. Rick definitely was.

The kid finished the measurements and then ran off, tail between his legs.

"Come on, Zach, I'll teach you how to really use a weapon," Rick stated, trying to calm himself down.

Zach grudgingly followed, before stopping altogether. "Why did he have to ask that question? Why do they always have to ask that same stupid question?"

"Because they're idiots that don't know any better," Rick replied as he looked away from the child, too ashamed of the fact that he used to be one of those idiots.

"But… Oli was never like that towards me," Zach responded, looking up at him.

Somehow, that response only made Rick feel worse. "Your sister's one of a kind. Just like you."

"Maybe I'm just the kind that shouldn't exist," Zach decided. "That way, I would never hurt her ever again!"

Rick turned around as fast as he could, but he only had enough time to see Zach's retreating back as he ran in the opposite direction and hopped over a bush into the woods.

"Zach, wait!" Rick yelled after him.

_Aw man, Olivia's gonna give me an earful for this! _He thought as he ran into the forest after him.

* * *

Olivia walked beside Robert, trying to forget about some of her problems in their leisure.

"So… what's it like outside of Camp Half-Blood for you?" She asked him.

Robert shrugged. "My mom's cool and my step-dad sucks. Nothing much more to it than that. If anything your home life is probably a lot more interesting,"

"What do you mean?" She replied, bewildered.

"Oh, you know, with the whole little brother, different dad thing," Robert explained.

Olivia's once confused expression turned into a sober one. "Oh…"

Robert immediately noticed her change in attitude and raised his hands in defense. "Hey! You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!"

Olivia shook her head as they kept walking. "No, no, it's not that, it's just that… Zach's my little brother. I couldn't look at him any other way. When I was in the hospital the day he was born, and when I held him in my arms as a kid, and when he said my name for the first time, all I kept thinking is that he was my flesh and blood, nothing more, nothing less."

"What about the first time you saw him transform?" Robert asked curiously. "I mean, it's not like I didn't notice those burn marks on your arms. Were they from him?"

"I freaked when I saw him for the first time." Olivia admitted, ignoring his second question. "But I could never be afraid of my baby brother no matter what he was."

"Wow…" Robert breathed, amazed.

Olivia pulled her arms up to look over the burns marks. She'd had a cup of nectar and a couple bites of ambrosia, hoping they'd fade, but only the pain faded, leaving obvious tan scars on her pale skin.

"I've always protected him when mom couldn't, which was usually all the time," Olivia stated. "But lately, I've had to start protecting people from Zach."

"Talk about stress," Robert joked as she put her arms down.

Olivia let out a small chuckle. "Only a little."

Suddenly, Rick came running out of the woods towards the two. "Olivia!"

"Rick?" Olivia asked, quizzical. "What's wrong? Where's Zach?"

When he heard her question, Rick looked like a deer caught in head lights. "Um… yeah… about Zach…"

Olivia's eyes narrowed. "What about Zach?"

"He kind of ran into the woods and… I lost him," Rick confessed.

"YOU WHAT?!" Olivia yelled, eyes widened to maximum capacity.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He apologized quickly. "But right now we really have to find Zach."

"I'll help." Robert volunteered. Olivia shot him a thankful look for his assistance.

"Alright, let's go," She ordered.

* * *

Zach walked over bushes and fell in the dirt floor of the forest.

_Oli's gonna be mad when she finds out that I ran away. But it was only to make sure no one gets hurt anymore. _

He'd seen the burns on her arms that she tried to hide from him. It was even worse than seeing that bruise on her stomach.

Zach balled up his small fists. He just felt so helpless.

"Hey," a voice said from behind.

Zach quickly turned around, expecting to see his sister, only to find a little wood nymph. It was the same one before, right before he transformed.

"You're that boy from before, aren't you?" the green tinted girl asked.

"Yeah… my name's Zach," He introduced.

The girl smiled at his introduction. "I like that name. Mine's Tulip,"

Zach found himself smiling for the first time in a while just by the presence of the nymph. "Nice to meet you, Tulip,"

"You know, everyone says you're a monster," Tulip stated bluntly as she balanced on a nearby log.

And as soon as Zach's smile came, it vanished. "I am,"

"You don't look like one," She said. "You look like a regular kid. I think everyone else is just a little crazy,"

Zach chuckled as he followed her over to the log. "Well, I'm not in monster mode right now. Of course, I'm not scary,"

"I think you're too cute to be scary," She said with a dimpled smile.

Zach's cheeks flushed red as his eyes widened.

"Zach!"

The two turned around to see Olivia and everyone else running towards them.

"Hey, Oli," Zach greeted as she tackled him in a hug.

"You scared us, man," Rick stated, knowing he was to blame for the whole incident.

"Sorry," Zach stated through his sister's tight grip.

Olivia finally let go of Zach and let him breath. "Why did you run away like that?"

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," Zach stated matter-of-factly as he looked at the scars on his sister's arms. "Especially you,"

Olivia followed his line of vision, only to sigh at what she saw. "Zach, I'm okay. Some more nectar and ambrosia and I'll be god as new,"

"Don't have too much, or you could really burn up," the wood nymph happily advised.

Olivia looked over to the wood nymph. "And who might you be?"

"Oli, this is Tulip," Zach introduced with a smile. "Tulip, this is my big sister, Oli,"

"Pleasure to meet you," Tulip replied, curtsying with her little grass skirt.

Olivia smiled at the plant girl. "Likewise."

And then she suddenly noticed it: her brother was smiling again.

* * *

**I hope you all loved that chapter of Nothing To Fear! And please Review for this super awesome story!**

**See you guys next week with a new chapter!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	12. Unknown Rivalries

**Hey, it's another chapter of Nothing To Fear! I hope you guys love it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

* * *

Nothing to Fear

Chapter 12- Unknown Rivalries

Olivia and Robert were heading back to the archery stands to get a little more training in.

"I'll show you how a pro does it," Robert boasted.

Olivia rolled her eyes with a smile plastered to her face. "Whatever, Rob the Builder. In truth, I could probably use all the help I can get. Clarisse has got me playing on her team for Capture the Flag."

Robert's footsteps hitched for a moment at her words. "Oh boy… well, then I suppose we should do sword training instead. Close combat is gonna be your undoing if you don't know how to fight with a blade."

She sighed. "Tried that. I'm no good,"

Robert quickly stepped to stand in front of her before putting his hands on her shoulders. He gave her a brilliant and confident smile. "Then we'll just have to make you better. Plus, Capture the Flag is the day after tomorrow and, like you said, you could use the training."

"True," Olivia stated excitedly. Even if she didn't really like swords, somehow, the fact that Robert would be training her instead of Rick seemed a lot more appealing.

"Alright then!" Robert exclaimed as they continued walking to the archery set up.

When they got there, they saw a certain son of Hades trying to shoot an arrow before missing the target completely.

"Damn it!" He cursed.

Olivia looked at the target only to see a dozen arrows surrounding it, sticking up from the ground with the only visible thing being their red tails contrasting against the grass.

"Um…" Robert muttered.

Nico's head turned in alertness at the sound of Robert's voice, but when he saw Olivia looking at the bundles of arrows that had missed the target, his face flushed red.

"Olivia," He greeted.

The daughter of Deimos looked away from the arrows to the boy. "Hey, Nico."

"Di Angelo," Robert greeted cheerfully.

Nico gave Robert a scrutinizing gaze, his eyes shooting from the boy's head down to his sneakers. "Heron."

Robert pretended like he didn't feel a cold chill run down at his spine at the boy's regard, but Olivia didn't feel a need to do so as she gave him a quizzical look.

Suddenly, there was a loud buzz that came from Robert's pocket. Both demigods looked at him curiously as he pulled out his silver pocket watch. He clicked it open for a second before shutting it closed the next.

"I have something I gotta do," Robert stated, before giving Olivia a disappointed look.

"What about sword training?" She asked, a frown forming on her lips.

"Don't worry," He assured with a smile. "I'll see you after lunch, right?"

Olivia eyes brightened a bit as she nodded. "Right,"

"Great, see ya then," He called as he turned to leave.

"Hey, Rob!" Olivia yelled.

He stopped and turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for your help with Zach, and… well, everything else," She acknowledged.

Robert gave her a wink. "No problem,"

Nico's eyes narrowed on his back as the son of Hephaestus turned to leave, which Olivia saw out of the corner of her eye.

"What's up with you and Robert?" Olivia asked when she noticed his glare.

Nico looked away from her and back at the target, getting his bow and arrow ready. "I don't know what you're talking about,"

"I bet," Olivia murmured.

She watched Nico pull back an arrow on his bow string. His stance was off and his elbow wasn't even pointed in the right direction. He just looked like was trying too hard.

"You're not even gonna get close to the target like that," Olivia commented.

"Oh really?" Nico asked, before releasing the arrow and having it strike the ground two feet away from the target.

"See?" Olivia stated before taking the bow from him and picking up two of the arrows that were planted into the ground. She shoved one of the arrows into his hand. "Here,"

The Half Blood girl stood at an angle before slowly pulling back an arrow placed stably on her bow string. She narrowed her eyes slightly and bent out her left arm while holding up her right elbow. Then, with the release of her fingers, she sent the arrow flying right into the target.

"That's how it's done," Olivia affirmed before handing him back the bow. "Now, you try,"

Nico used the arrow that she'd earlier given him and pulled it back on the bow string.

Olivia shook her head before walking up to him. First, she kneeled down in front of him.

"Your stance is still wrong," she noted as she moved his feet to the right position. Nico nearly tripped over himself when he realized he no longer had control on his legs.

"Okay, okay," he responded as he stepped away from her. "I can do this,"

"Wait," She halted as she stood back up. "Make sure your elbow is still pointed up,"

She lifted his arm for him before walking behind him, running her hands over his shoulders and down his back. "And you're too tense. Loosen up."

Nico flinched under her touch, but he loosened his muscles regardless.

"Now…" Olivia decided as she stepped back. "…Shoot."

Nico released the arrow and it flew through the air and right onto the target. He smiled at his accomplishment and then turned to Olivia to see her pleased reaction.

"Nice job," She praised with a small smirk on her face.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH

Olivia turned in the direction of the mess hall before turning to Nico. "Join me to lunch?"

Nico's smile softened. "Sure."

And with that the two began walking towards the mess hall, leaving the archery target with only two arrows lodged in it.

"You know, you're pretty good at archery," Nico complimented her as they strolled down a dirt path.

Olivia shrugged. "Only learned it on my first day here. After that, I just picked it up, I guess."

"Well, I suppose it's not that big of a surprise," The son of Hades replied. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Deimos is more favorable to long range weapons."

Suddenly, she stopped walking.

Nico turned back to look at her. "Olivia?"

At first she didn't say anything, then after a long moment, she opened her mouth. "That's the first time someone's ever compared me to him,"

Nico's eyes relaxed into an understanding gaze. "To your father, you mean,"

She nodded.

Nico took a step towards her before leaning down, barely touching his forehead to hers. "Believe me, I know the feeling. I remember when someone first recognized my father is us,"

"Us?" Olivia whispered before looking up at his dark eyes.

Only then did she realize how close he was to her. She felt his breath brushing against her cheeks and the tip of his nose was so close to hers that it tickled. Nico seemed to realize this as well and immediately brought himself away from her.

"Sorry," He replied, avoiding eye contact.

"It's fine," Olivia stated, looking away from him as well. But the question was still in her head, so she eventually had to force herself to look back at him. "What did you mean before, when you said 'us'?"

Nico looked from her to the ground and then towards the mess hall as he started walking again. Olivia hastily jogged to walk by his side, still awaiting his answer.

"When I first got to camp," Nico began. "I had an older sister. We both had the same dad."

"Had?" Olivia picked up.

Nico looked forward, holding the most emotionless stare Olivia had ever seen.

And in that moment, Olivia realized that she'd over stepped her bounds. She quickly switched her gaze to look forward as well. "I'm sorry I asked."

His voice stayed stoic and detached. "It's okay."

And the rest of their walk was silent as they headed to lunch.

* * *

When they arrived at the mess hall, Olivia went to go sit at her table when she caught Robert waving at her. She waved back excitedly, thinking of how they would be training that afternoon.

Nico followed her gaze to the see the son of Hephaestus before refraining from rolling his eyes at him. He didn't know what it was about this guy, but he didn't like him.

"Hey, Olivia," Nico called. "Robert's training you to be better at swordplay, right?"

Olivia looked away from the demigods and towards Nico. "Yeah, why?"

"I'll be helping you too," He decided. "Take it as a 'thank you' for the archery lesson."

And with that, he walked away from her and to the Hades table.

"Ooookay… if you want," she stated with a confused look on her face.

* * *

As Nico walked by the Hephaestus table, he made sure to walk by Robert.

"Hey, Heron, looks like I'll be helping you train Olivia," Nico informed casually.

"And why is that, Mr. Di Angelo? Keeping an eye on me?" Robert assumed without even glancing up at him. Then he gave the Death Boy a sly look. "Or maybe you're keeping an eye on Olivia,"

Nico's face reddened. "Just expect to see me."

Robert smiled kindly.

"I look forward to it."

* * *

**Well that was the twelfth chapter of Nothing To Fear! Hope you guys liked it. ;)**

**Please Review!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


	13. Victories and 'Almost's

**Sorry it took me a few extra days to get this one published. My computer crashed last Friday so I had to start the chapter over by scratch. -_-**

**Regardless, here's the thirteenth chapter of Nothing to Fear!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.**

* * *

Nothing to Fear

Chapter 13- Victories and 'Almost's

Olivia walked beside the son of Hades, trying to keep her gaze forward. Every so often, her blue eyes would shift around the view in front of her to look at his cool expression, wondering what he was really thinking behind those dark eyes of his.

Ever since they'd left lunch, he hadn't said a word to her. Hadn't even bothered explaining to her why he had made his decision to help her. Or why he really disliked Robert.

"Nico…" Olivia eventually called.

His eyes glanced over at her in response. "Yeah?"

"Why are you helping my sword training again?"

His eyes went back to looking ahead, no longer interested in the conversation. "I have a responsibility for you since I brought you to camp. Can't have you dying on my watch. Also, like I said before, it gives me a chance to repay you for the archery lessons."

"Responsibility?" Olivia asked with a smirk.

Nico had to hold back a chuckle. "Oh believe me; I'm fully aware of how arduous being responsible for you can be. I've got the scar to prove it."

She laughed quietly at the memory. "It was your fault for trying to be all heroic,"

Nico looked over at her with an incredulous smile. "My fault! It's my fault that your dagger suddenly found its way into my skin?"

The demigod just pretended not to hear his question as they continued up the path to the arena where Robert awaited them. She even noticed that Nico seemed to be in better mood now.

"I have a question," Olivia stated as the two noticed the Arena up ahead.

"Go on," Nico urged, looking at her quizzically.

"You've seen how 'okay' I am with a knife," She began. "So why is sword training really needed for me?"

The good mood Olivia thought she recognized on Nico's face seemed to fall as his smile slid off. "When you're a half-blood, the more weapons you know how to use the better chances you have at surviving."

"You make it seem like it doesn't happen often," Olivia noticed morbidly.

He just shrugged his shoulders, but she could see a whole array of emotions flashing in his eyes from guilt to anguish to nostalgia to pain. She wondered if she'd have eyes like that after a few years at Camp.

When they finally made it to the Arena, they found Robert waiting with open arms and sword already in hand.

"Hey, Rob," Olivia greeted happily.

Nico contradicted Olivia's emotions entirely. "Heron."

Robert was unfazed by his attitude. "Hey, you two,"

Then he looked over to Olivia with a smile. "Ready to start?"

She smiled back with false eagerness. "Ready as I'll ever be,"

* * *

Nico and Olivia stood on opposite sides of the Arena, sword in hand. Robert stood on the sidelines, watching for flaws and openings in Olivia's posture to point out to her.

"Begin," Robert declared.

Olivia decided to instigate the battle by charging forward, straight at Nico. Her sword was held above her head, ready to be brought down on the shoulder of her opponent. Meanwhile, Nico stood on the other side of the playing field, unmoving.

The moment Olivia got within range of the attack she wanted to inflict, Nico's blade caught hers mid-fall.

"Gotta do better than that," Nico muttered as she used her weight to force down her sword, attempting to break his strength first.

Nico realized her dully thought out plan and quickly used her weight against her. His dexterity, gathered from years of avoiding monsters, allowed him to use a free hand to grab Olivia's sword grip while still holding his own. He twisted her wrist to release it before jumping away from her entirely, making her fall to the ground.

"Ow…" she moaned.

"If you only knew how many openings you had just now," Nico chuckled as he walked over to her and gave her a hand.

"Hey, I'm a beginner, what do you want from me?" Olivia sulked as she grudgingly took his hand. She took her sword back from his as well.

"Nico's got a point," The observing demigod agreed as he walked over to the two. "You're way to open about your attacks. Sword fighting isn't the same as it is in the movies,"

Olivia just looked oddly at him, as if asking him to elaborate. The boy sighed at her confusion before reaching out for her.

"What are you doing?" Nico asked skeptically. His question was ignored.

"Here," Robert started as he put his hand over hers. "Think of your grip on this blade as being your grip on life. If you drop this sword or even think of letting it go, you lose all chances of surviving the fight." Then he slipped his other arm around her waist, his chest pressing against her back. "And everything my body is touching right now is considered a target for any opponent, so keep yourself protected at all times. Protection should always be your first priority."

Nico tried to hold back the anger growing in the pit of his stomach at seeing the teenager press himself against Olivia. And, of course, she failed to notice the awkwardness of their position because she was too busy trying to take in his advice on swordplay.

_This guy has no shame, _Nico thought heatedly, glaring a hole in his forehead.

"Hey, Heron," He called, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

The boy looked up in recognition, still draped over the demigod beneath him. "Yeah?"

"How about we show her how it's done through example?" Nico requested, his words lined with a dark undertone.

Robert smiled brilliantly at the son of Hades. "That's not a bad idea, Di Angelo,"

* * *

The two stood against each other as Olivia sat in the Arena stands to watch their fight.

"Ready?" Robert asked him.

Nico took an attack stance from the other side of the field. "Let's get started."

The boys charged at each other at the same time, but after a moment Robert decided to stop first as Nico plunged at him. Their swords connected with a loud _clang_.

Olivia kept her eyes on them, trying to comprehend their agility mixed with their balance and harsh slashes. The two were definitely pros at their given games; that much she could tell. She also made the observation that the two were fighting evenly matched since their battle began.

Nico swung, Robert dodged. Robert sliced, Nico countered. It was like watching a ballet, but instead of tutus, they had fatal weapons. Olivia didn't know whose form to follow half the time.

Nico was trying to hold back, reminding himself that it was only for show. Only for Olivia's experience. However, his opponent's evasions, amongst other actions the boy had made, had severely gotten on his nerves.

Robert shot his blade forward, and it took Nico by surprise, cutting close enough to leave a cut on his arm, topping Olivia's scar from days ago.

Feeling the sting of his blade, Nico's restraint seemed to disappear as he slammed into Robert, hard enough to push him back and take him by genuine surprise. Olivia watched as the tackle made him drop his sword completely.

Nico caught his sword and slashed Robert away from him, using a double-sided slice of his and Robert's blades at the same time. All before Robert even fully hit the ground.

"Wow," Olivia whispered as she witnessed the maneuver.

Then she noticed that Robert had hit the ground with quite a thud. She hopped over the Arena wall and ran over to her teacher as Nico walked towards him.

"You put up quite a fight there, Heron," Nico complimented with a hint of smugness in his tone. He'd be lying if he said that winning hadn't felt at least a little good. And the fact that his loss was in front of Olivia didn't hurt either.

"Not as good as you," Robert replied as he tried to stand up. Once he was up though, he winced, his arm wrapped around his waist. "Apparently."

When he revealed his side, red blood covered his hand while he opened his gash to fresh air. Olivia was the first to gasp while Nico's mouth went agape as his victorious expression turned into a guilty one.

"Aw, man, I'm sorry," Nico immediately apologized. "I could have sworn the tips didn't touch you,"

Robert leaned on Olivia's side as he chuckled ad held his gash closed. "You're better than you think, Di Angelo."

But Nico just couldn't take the compliment to heart as he watched the boy limp from Olivia's side.

"Don't worry," Robert assured. "I've got a bag on ambrosia in my bunk. The cabin isn't too far from here."

"You sure you can make it?" Olivia questioned, obviously worried.

The wounded kid flashed a reassuring smile. "You just keep training with Di Angelo. I'll be back and healed up in no time."

Nico and Olivia watched him walk out the Arena, limping his way to the Hephaestus cabin. Once he was out of sight, Olivia looked back to see Nico with shame still burning in his eyes.

"I honestly didn't mean to hurt him that bad," he promised her as he noticed her glance.

Olivia picked up her sword from where she left it on the ground earlier. "It's okay… I know you didn't. The damage would've been a lot worse if you'd meant to,"

Nico didn't know if he was being forgiven or accused, but decided not to think much of it as he placed Robert's sword down by the entrance. "Let's get back to practicing,"

And their battle commenced. Olivia took charge first, heaving all she could into her attacks.

"Stop just throwing your sword around," Nico berated as he blocked her every blow. "Sword fighting isn't just about who has the most power, it's about who has the most skill. That includes strategizing."

"I'd rather just fight like this." Olivia said as she continued.

Nico's sword clashed with hers as they push on their blades with equal force.

"Then, you will lose ever fight." He stated.

Olivia tried to swipe him away, but it was no use, her blade was trapped in collision with his.

"Olivia, you're so much stronger than you let yourself be," The Death boy informed. "If you would just stop thinking like a kid and start thinking like a demigod, you would have beaten me by now."

"I'm trying-"

"Try harder."

Olivia glared at his dark obsidian eyes, her anger suddenly getting the better of her.

"You think I wanted to be a demigod? I didn't! I didn't want to be a freak of nature. I didn't want to have stupid and terrible powers. I didn't want any of it," Olivia growled, power building inside of her. "But you know what I do want? To knock you on your ass."

And she did just that. She turned the tables on the son of Hades, twirling around his blade and using his own weight against him. With a final blow to an opening on his left side, she sent him tumbling to the ground.

"HA," She yelled at him… before making herself trip on accident and falling to the ground herself.

THUD.

"…Ow…" she groaned softly. The ground was a lot bonier than she remembered.

"Got that right," a voice said beneath her.

Olivia looked down to see Nico had cushioned her fall while she, on the other hand, had just made his worse.

"So… rry," She muttered slowly as she tried to get up, only to realize how close he was to her yet again.

_His cologne_, she thought to herself as she stared at his deep coal eyes. _It smells like fruit._

Nico's eyes were trapped by hers as well. "It's… okay…"

Olivia noticed his face growing closer to hers. Inch by inch, his head began leaning up to her, their hearts thumping. They were only centimeters apart now, the gap between them ceasing to exist…

"Am I interrupting?"

The two snapped out of their trance to see Robert at the Arena entrance, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. Olivia was the first to react, realizing the situation.

"W-what? No, of course, not," She stated, trying to calm her heartbeats as she immediately rolled off Nico and got up to her feet.

Nico got up after her as well, trying to look anywhere but _at her._ "Yeah… of course not."

Meanwhile, Robert just smirked at the two, avoiding each other's gaze.

"If you say so…"

* * *

**Well that was the 13th chapter of Nothing to Fear! I hope you all enjoyed it!**

**Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**The Victorian**


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